The ethics chiefs for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have called for President Trump’s top adviser Kellyanne Conway to get the boot after she slammed the Democratic candidate in the Alabama Senate race.
Bush adviser Richard Painter tweeted that Conway’s interview Monday with Fox News violated federal law because she slammed Doug Jones as a hardcore liberal while praising GOP candidate and accused creep Roy Moore.
“She has violated the Hatch Act by using her position to take sides in a partisan election. That is a firing offense,” Painter wrote on Twitter.
Painter’s comments followed a complaint filed by Obama ethics chief Walter Shaub, who also accused Conway of violating the Hatch Act, The Hill reported.
“It seems pretty clear she was appearing in her official capacity when she advocated against a candidate,” Shaub told the website Wednesday about the interview, in which Conway is standing in front of the White House.
“I’m telling you that we want the votes in the Senate to get this tax bill through,” she said, adding that Moore was a reliable vote while Jones would not support Trump’s agenda.
The Hatch Act, passed in 1939, bans executive branch employees except the president, vice president and some other high-level officials from engaging in most political activity.
Their comments came a day after Trump essentially endorsed Moore, saying the administration didn’t want a liberal Democrat to win the seat and change the GOP’s precarious 52-48 majority in the Senate.
While most top GOP officials have rebuked Moore, the president, who faces multiple accusations of sexual misconduct himself, suggested that Moore’s denials were credible.
Like Moore, Trump has repeatedly branded the more than a dozen women who have leveled accusations against him liars.