Did White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre violate Hatch Act?

In a letter first shared with NBC News, the Office of Special Counsel concluded that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre violated the Hatch Act in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections.

Enacted in 1939, the law prohibits federal employees from engaging in certain political activities that are likely to influence election results.

Nevertheless, Jean-Pierre is at least the fourth Biden administration official to have violated the Hatch Act. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, then-White House chief of staff Ron Klain, and then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki have all been accused of violating the federal law.

According to an NBC News report on Monday, the government watchdog agency determined this month that Jean-Pierre’s choice of words when referring to Republican candidates violated the Hatch Act.

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But despite the violation, the agency has “decided to close this matter without further action”, Ana Galindo-Marrone, the chief of OSC’s Hatch Act Unit, wrote in a letter dated June 7, noting White House lawyers “did not at the time believe that Jean-Pierre’s remarks were prohibited.”

Protect the Public’s Trust filed the Hatch Act complaint against the White House press secretary last November, after a briefing during which Jean-Pierre referred to “mega MAGA Republican officials who don’t believe in the rule of law”.

She also made certain other comments disparaging candidates of the political party, according to the complaint filed by the conservative watchdog group, NBC News reported.

Michael Chamberlain, head of Protect the Public’s Trust and a former Trump administration official, said Jean-Pierre’s violation of the Hatch Act without repercussions shows why US citizens “distrust the Biden administration’s promises to be the most ethical in history.”