Kellyanne Conway's "statements during the ‘Fox & Friends’ and ‘New Day’ interviews impermissibly mixed official government business with political views about candidates in the Alabama special election for U.S. Senate," the report by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel reads. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Kellyanne Conway violated federal law in Alabama election, investigator finds

Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, ran afoul of federal laws last year by expressing preferences for one candidate and against another in Alabama’s special Senate election, a federal investigator said in a report released on Tuesday.

In a report submitted to President Donald Trump, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel found that Conway violated the Hatch Act, which regulates campaigning by most executive branch employees. In a release that accompanied the report itself, the office said it was submitting its report to the president “for disciplinary action.”


The White House pushed back against the findings.

“Kellyanne Conway did not advocate for or against the election of any particular candidate,” deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said on Tuesday. “She simply expressed the president’s obvious position that he have people in the House and Senate who support his agenda. In fact, Kellyanne’s statements actually show her intention and desire to comply with the Hatch Act — as she twice declined to respond to the host’s specific invitation to encourage Alabamians to vote for the Republican.”

The report details two interviews Conway gave to Fox News and CNN in late November and early December, respectively. The Office of Special Counsel found that in the first interview, Conway “gave an implied endorsement” of the Republican nominee, Roy Moore, by advocating against Doug Jones, the Democrat who would go on to win the Senate seat. In the second interview, the report says, Conway was more explicit, again lobbing criticism at Jones but also urging viewers to support Moore.

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In her November interview , Conway said Trump had no plans to campaign for Moore but told viewers not to be “fooled” by Jones, whom she labeled a “doctrinaire liberal.” On CNN in December, Conway defended Moore against allegations of sexual misconduct against girls as young as 14 when he was in his 30s, and once again attacked Jones. During her second interview, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo reminded Conway that “you've got to be careful about the Hatch Act.”

In both cases, the Office of Special Counsel said that Conway’s violations occurred after she “received significant training on Hatch Act violations.” Conway previously drew scrutiny from the Office of Government Ethics for offering what she described as a “free commercial” for the clothing line of Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and a White House aide. The then-head of the ethics office, Walter Schaub, called Conway’s remarks, which also came on Fox News, a “clear violation.”

“In passing this law, Congress intended to promote public confidence in the executive branch by ensuring the federal government is working for all Americans without regard to their political views,” the report reads. “Ms. Conway’s statements during the ‘Fox & Friends’ and ‘New Day’ interviews impermissibly mixed official government business with political views about candidates in the Alabama special election for U.S. Senate.”

Recalling Conway’s past run-in with government watchdogs, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, called for “swift and serious disciplinary action” for the counselor to the president.

“This is not the first time that an independent government agency has recommended that the White House discipline Kellyanne Conway for breaking the law,” Cummings said in a statement released by the committee. “Ms. Conway has received multiple trainings and warnings, yet she still refuses to follow basic ethics rules. The president must take swift and serious disciplinary action against Ms. Conway. Anything else sets a terrible example.”

