Mark Meadows Dismisses Alleged Hatch Act Violations at RNC Convention: ‘Nobody Outside the Beltway Really Cares’
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows shrugged off criticisms for the second night of the Republican National Convention, saying “nobody” cares if the ceremonial pomp violated the Hatch Act.
Meadows gave an interview on Wednesday for POLITICO Playbook, during which, Anna Palmer brought up Secretary of State Mike Pompeo giving a speech to the convention in the middle of a diplomatic trip in Israel. It is highly irregular for a secretary of state to participate in overtly partisan activity while operating in their official government capacity, and as Jake Sherman noted, the State Department recently instructed employees to avoid this kind of activity.
When asked about that, Meadows responded by claiming political pundits have taken the Hatch Act beyond its original intent, and that it’s only supposed to prohibit executive branch employees from influencing other government employees on elections. As a reminder, the law says federal employees are not allowed to engage in activity where they “use [their] official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.”
Meadows continued by claiming Pompeo was not giving the speech in his official capacity, and arguing that the lines of the Hatch Act are blurred whenever government workers are asked to comment on political matters. Eventually, Meadows argued that for “the vast majority” of the country, “nobody outside of the beltway really cares” about the Hatch Act.
“They expect that Donald Trump is going to promote Republican values, and they would expect Barack Obama — when he was in office — would do the same for Democrats,” Meadows said. “This is a lot of hoopla that’s being made about things, mainly because the convention has been so unbelievably successful.”
Meadows made his point while referring to POLITICO Playbook’s newsletter, which outlined all RNC convention’s alleged Hatch Act violations but also conceded it might not be something most Americans care about very much.
From the playbook:
Of course, much of this is improper, and, according to most every straight-faced expert, it’s a violation of the Hatch Act. It’s incumbent upon the news media to point that out. But do you think a single person outside the Beltway gives a hoot about the president politicking from the White House or using the federal government to his political advantage? Do you think any persuadable voter even notices?
As Palmer and Sherman gave context to the newsletter by noting the legal complications of the matter, Meadows stuck to his argument that concerns over the Hatch Act are overblown.
Watch above, via POLITICO.
