What Constitutes a Hatch Act Violation?

by emptywheel

There's a really important point in this article about the snail's pace of OSC's omnibus investigation of Scott Jennings' political presentations (via TP). The only reason OSC found the GSA presentation to be a violation of the Hatch Act, it points out, is because Lurita "Screwed by her Crackberry" Doan asked what GSA could do to help "our" candidates. The presentation itself, OSC seems to have concluded, wasn't a violation of the Hatch Act.

Elaine Kaplan, Bloch's predecessor as special counsel, said the key factor that led OSC to find a violation on the part of Doan was the determination that the PowerPoint presentation turned into a political brainstorming session under her initiative.

But nothing in OSC's investigative report suggests that anything improper had occurred before Doan initiated the discussion, Kaplan said.

Can that be right? Scott Jennings can wander around our government agencies with his GWB43.com email and target Democratic Congressmen in the 2008 election while on government property, and that's not a violation of the Hatch Act?

Given the fact that someone appears to have backed off of calling for Doan's termination, I think this really raises some questions about how seriously they're going after these Hatch Act violations. I guess there were always questions.

In any case, Scott Jennings sure seems confident he's in no risk of losing his job over his dog and pony show...

Comments

[looseheadprop]

What? Are they saying thatScott Jennings is not a Hatch Act covered employee? If so, he can say whatever he wants and it's not until a covered employee joins in that the COVERED MPLOYEE violates that HAtch Act.

Why wouldn't Jennings be a covered meployee?

[tekel]

Why isn't Doan already gone? Waxman should nail that bitch to the wall- her face should be right next to Monigoo and Kyle, under a sign that says "Do not accept checks from these scumbags."

[William Ockham]

lhp,

I thought that political appointees (cabinet-level officials and EOP employees) could do most anything (except fundraising) as long as they didn't involve career employees. Scott Jennings could have given that presentation at, say, a Federalist Society meeting, but not at the GSA.

[Paige]

Is Scott Jennings liable to be prosecuted say, in two years, when let's say a Democratic AG interprets the Hatch Act in a different manner?

[Rayne]

Perfect example justifying the placement of known political operatives or staunch partisans across the breadth of the DOJ: investigations into administration corruption will be stymied or diluted. Jennings and Doan both should already have been escorted from their respective buildings at the very minimum.

[Jodi]

You should remember that if the axe is too sharp and double bitted, it can be wielded against Democrats also. That is why the lobbyist act won't have much effect.

The old boy's clubs in congress and the agencies don't want to make too many waves, that their own kayaks must then negotiate.

[albert fall]

"criminalizing politics" results from having criminals in politics

[William Ockham]

Henry Waxman seems determined to make waves:
http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070530160300.pdf

He wants Bloch to turn over transcripts, witness statements, personnel files, and Doan's email records gathered in the investigation.

[Sebastian Dangerfield]

Near as I can tell -- just from reading the tea leaves and talking to folks who are a degree or so removed from the goings-on -- the OSC has made a determination that the Jennings Power Point was no more than an informational briefing about the upcoming election (which is apparently premissible when certain types of political appointees address otther political appointees, as was the case with this presentation) and that Hatch-Act prohibited conduct came into play only when some of those political appointees used the information as a springboard for partisan political activity (e.g., Lurita's idiotically brazen comments about what "we" -- i.e., GSA officials -- can do to help "our candidates"). Frankly, I think that determination reeks, inasmuch as the slides alone certainly appear to be geared toward advocating the election of Republicans and the defeat of democrats in key battleground states -- in other words, partisan political activity. And we don't seem to be privy to the script of Jennings's pitch (perhaps due to another bout of Repulican Amnesia), and the OSC does not appear to have proved itself capable of pinning down related documents.
To me, it looks a lot like the OSC is just grabbing at the low-hanging fruit -- the clueless Doan -- and leaving alone Rove's boy, whether out of fear of retribution, out of direct orders to stay away from Jennings, out of lack of sufficient competence and expertise, or otherwise.

[marksb]

Ah geez. Jodi. Pay attention. The axe MUST be sharp and have as many blades as necessary to ensure honesty and integrity in the entire political process. Not kept dull so both parties can get away with stuff, or just sharp enough to make sure politicians only steal and don't get away with heavier crimes, oh like murder, or starting a war on known false pretenses, major stuff like that.

Get this: We progressives don't give a rat's ass if the political hack committing the crime is a Dem or a Repub. Well, we do care, but we stand on a platform that there will be no criminal activity in government at all, no matter who does the deed.

Honesty. Integrity. Is that too much to understand?
(A shame it has to be said.)

[Neil]

The old boy's clubs in congress and the agencies don't want to make too many waves, that their own kayaks must then negotiate. Posted by: Jodi (aka Ms. Metaphor Tokyo Jodi Todie)

Rabbits. Magic shows. Waves and kayaks. Baseball and hot dog stands. Double bitted axes. Old boy's club.

Does the old boys's club include these old girls? Barbara Boxer, Maria Cantwell, Hillary Clinton, Susan Collins, Elizabeth Dole, Dianne Feinstein, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Blanche Lincoln, Claire McCaskell, Barbara Mikulski, Lisa Murkowski, Patty Murray, Olympia Snowe, Debbie Stabenow.

More to the point, the metaphors substitute for addressing the substance of the issue as looseheadprop, Ockham, Paige, Rayne, Sebastian do. Marksb addreses the question of ethical and law-abiding government employees, irrespective of political affiliation, in response to Jodi's 'both parties are corrupt' equivalency, which has become a popular deflection in the last six years.

[big brother]

If I had a hammer I'd ring out justice, I'd ring out freedom all over this land...

[John Casper]

"Get this: We progressives don't give a rat's ass if the political hack committing the crime is a Dem or a Repub. Well, we do care, but we stand on a platform that there will be no criminal activity in government at all, no matter who does the deed."

Seconded.

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