Earlier today Trump’s media guy and top aide Dan Scavino tweeted out to the “Trump Train” that they needed to primary a Freedom Caucus member because he opposed the AHCA.
.@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
Some are saying that this might have been a violation of the Hatch Act:
But that tweet, sent from Scavino’s personal Twitter account, immediately landed him in controversy as ethics lawyers called out Scavino for possibly violating the Hatch Act, a Depression-era law that regulates campaigning by government officials.
“Look at the official photo on this page. Read the Hatch Act and fire this man NOW. Someone call OSC,” Richard Painter, the former ethics attorney in the George W. Bush White House, wrote on Twitter, referring to the Office of Special Counsel, the independent agency charged with monitoring and enforcing the law.
White House press officials and Scavino did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Now, to be fair to Scavino, he has an official White House account at @Scavino45, and the account he tweeted the threat under specifically says “personal” Twitter handle.
So he’ll probably get away with it because it’s just not that big a deal…