US Office of Special Counsel finds that Kellyanne Conway violated federal law and recommends that she be removed from the White House

Jim Young/Reuters

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 23, 2019.

• The federal agency that enforces the Hatch Act found that White House counselor Kellyanne Conway violated the law on "numerous occasions" while serving in her official capacity as President Donald Trump's adviser.
• The US Office of Special Counsel said Conway did so by "disparaging Democratic presidential candidates ... during television interviews and on social media."
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The US Office of Special Counsel determined that White House counselor Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act and recommended that she be "removed from federal service."

In a letter to President Donald Trump, the OSC - the federal agency that enforces the Hatch Act -found that Conway broke the law "on numerous occasions by disparaging Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in her official capacity during television interviews and on social media."

"Although the President and Vice President are exempt from the Hatch Act," the agency said in a statement, "employees of the White House are not. OSC's letter to the President accompanying the report refers to Ms. Conway as a 'repeat offender' and states: 'Ms. Conway's violations, if left unpunished, would send a message to all federal employees that they need not abide by the Hatch Act's restrictions. Her actions thus erode the principal foundation of our democratic system - the rule of law.'"

The Hatch Act of 1973 is a federal statute that prevents most federal employees, with some exceptions, from engaging in political activity while working in their official roles.