A government watchdog agency has advised that White House aide Kellyanne Conway should be removed from federal office for upsetting the rule of law.
The Office of Special Counsel, an independent regulatory agency, has sent a report to president Donald Trump, in which they detailed "numerous occasions" where Conway apparently violated the law.
As a result of these alleged infractions, the OSC has recommended that Conway be removed from office. They have justified this advice by claiming that Conway has blatantly violated the Hatch Act - which prohibits government employees from engaging in political activity that could be seen as partisan.
The report 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."
It adds: "If Ms Conway were any other federal employee, her multiple violations of the law would almost certainly result in her removal from her federal position. Never has [the office] had to issue multiple reports to the President concerning Hatch Act violations by the same individual."
In 2017 Conway violated the Hatch Act by expressing support for GOP candidate Roy Moore and against Democratic candidate Doug Jones, in Alabama's special Senate election, the OSC ruled.
Meanwhile, the agency has also found that another six Trump administration officials have apparently violated the Hatch Act after tweeting support for Trump from their government accounts.
The White House has since responded to the report; as per NBC News, Steven Groves, White House deputy press secretary said;
“The Office of Special Counsel’s (OSC) unprecedented actions against Kellyanne Conway are deeply flawed and violate her constitutional rights to free speech and due process. Others, of all political views, have objected to the OSC’s unclear and unevenly applied rules which have a chilling effect on free speech for all federal employees".