WH social media director Dan Scavino Jr. reprimanded for violating Hatch Act

Jessica Estepa | USA TODAY

White House social media director Dan Scavino Jr. broke the federal law that prohibits members of the executive branch from engaging in some forms of political activity, the Office of Special Counsel said in a letter sent this week.

On April 1, 2017, Scavino tweeted that Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan was a "major liability." Amash, a libertarian Republican, had helped block a vote on legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act because he believed it left too much of Obama's signature health care law intact.

"#TrumpTrain, defeat him in primary," Scavino wrote from his personal handle, @DanScavino.

.@realDonaldTrump is bringing auto plants & jobs back to Michigan. @justinamash is a big liability.#TrumpTrain, defeat him in primary. — Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) April 1, 2017

At the time of the tweet, the account displayed a photo of Scavino standing in the Oval Office, and his header photo displayed President Trump giving a speech behind a lectern with the presidential seal, according to watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Per CREW, Scavino removed the photograph with the official seal and changed his Twitter bio after complaints from ethics experts.

CREW filed a complaint with OSC, resulting in Scavino receiving a warning letter from the agency. Ana Galindo-Marrone, chief of OSC's Hatch Act unit, said Scavino was counseled by the Office of the White House Counsel on the Hatch Act and has not since violated the law.

"Mr. Scavino has been advised that if in the future he engages in prohibited political activity while employed in a position covered by the Hatch Act, we will consider such activity to be a willful and knowing violation of the law," Galindo-Marrone wrote in a June 5 letter to CREW.

CREW declared victory for Scavino's reprimand.

Big win for CREW! Dan Scavino reprimanded for Hatch Act violation! pic.twitter.com/noOXeUGOIk — Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) June 9, 2017

“The rules are clear that government officials aren’t allowed to use their position for campaign activity,” CREW executive director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement, “OSC has made clear with this ruling that they are going to enforce these important rules and work to keep the government free from inappropriate politics.”

Read the OSC letter here.

Contributing: Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press