McEnany, Kushner, and Pompeo Among Trump Advisers Who Illegally Campaigned While in Office, Report Finds

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Thirteen senior members of former President Donald Trump‘s administration violated the Hatch Act which prohibits government employees from campaigning while on the job, says a new government report published Tuesday.

The 65-page report, from the permanent and independent U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), details instances in which senior officials created a “taxpayer-funded campaign apparatus” for Trump’s 2020 presidential election campaign.

Fox News contributor and former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, as well as Trump senior advisers Jared Kushner and Kellyanne Conway, are among those singled out in the report. Former Secretary of State and possible 2024 GOP presidential contender Mike Pompeo is also mentioned.

The report documents McEnany’s appearance on Fox News on August 20, 2020, as her alleged violation.

The report says:

During that interview she was asked about the Democratic convention and some of the attacks against President Trump. Ms. McEnany responded by defending the president but then went on to compare the two candidates’ campaign strategies:

“It’s a baseless attack. . . . And I have watched [President Trump] be emotional and show empathy and show great character that is exactly the opposite of what President Obama has said. But what this president is doing—he doesn’t hide in basements. He goes out and talks to the American people. He’s travelled more than 6,000 miles this week, he’ll be out to Pennsylvania today. He looks the American people in the eye. He talks directly to them while Democrats just have a bunch of politicians lying amongst themselves.”

The OSC said discipline was “no longer possible” as the Trump administration is out of power, but wrote it still released the report in an attempt to try and discourage future violations.

“Taken together, the report concludes that the violations demonstrate both a willingness by some in the Trump administration to leverage the power of the executive branch to promote President Trump’s reelection and the limits of OSC’s enforcement power,” OSC said in a news release.

The report is the final product of an investigation launched while Trump was still in office, due to his decision to hold the 2020 Republican National Convention at the White House.