Former Trump employee penalized for violating Hatch Act

The Office of the Special Council (CSO) announced on Tuesday an agreement with former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) official Lynne Patton, a political nominee and ally of the former President TrumpSurprising Donald Trump Presidency Joe Biden The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden and McConnell agree on vaccines, infrastructure clash Republican battle with MLB intensifies MOREof a violation of the Hatch Act on a video she produced for last year’s Republican National Convention.

As part of the agreement, Patton admitted that he violated the Hatch Act with the video in which the then administrator of HUD Region II interviewed residents of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) about their living conditions, although he apparently did not warn participants that the video would be used for political purposes.

“During his stay of approximately a month, Patton met residents and later leveraged one of these relationships to recruit participants to shoot a video that would air on RNC. Patton wanted NYCHA residents to appear in the video to explain how their standard of living had improved under the Trump administration, “said the OSC in a press release.

“By using the NYCHA information and connections available to her solely because of her position at the HUD, Patton has unduly taken advantage of the authority of her federal position to help Trump’s campaign in violation of the Hatch Act,” the statement continued.

Under the agreement, Patton will be barred from working in the federal government for two years and will pay a $ 1,000 fine.

Patton was a huge supporter of Trump in 2016 and spoke on stage at that year’s Republican National Convention. After her victory in the 2016 elections, she was nominated for the HUD and served until the end of her administration.

In a statement to The New York Times last year, Patton denied that any of the participants had been misled about the purpose of the video, although several of them told the Times that they were not informed that it would be reproduced at the convention.

“Each participated independently of the political party because they recognized the importance of having a voice on the national scene and the undeniable improvements that have taken place under this administration,” said Patton of the video in August 2020.

The Trump administration was the subject of multiple breaches of the Hatch Act during his four years in office. The OSC had previously recommended that the then White House adviser Kellyanne ConwayKellyanne Elizabeth ConwayThe Memorandum: The Trump Post-Presidency Mystery Dozens of Trump nominees ‘bury themselves’ in the Biden government George Conway calls for a full investigation of the Lincoln Project: ‘The lie must stop’ MORE be fired for being a repeat offender.