The White House is slamming the Office of Special Counsel [OSC] for recommending Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway be removed from her position for violations of the Hatch Act.
"OSC's draft Report is based on multiple fundamental legal and factual errors, makes unfair and unsupported claims against a close advisor to the President, is the product of a blatantly unfair process that ignored statutory notice requirements, and has been influences by various inappropriate considerations. As a result, the current Report would serve only to undermine public confidence in OSC and its procedures," a lengthy letter written by Counsel to the President Pat Cipollone to Special Counsel Henry Kerner states. "The Report is based on numerous grave legal, factual, and procedural errors. First, even assuming that the Hatch Act applies to the most senior advisers to the President in the White House, OSC has violated its statutory obligation to provide Ms. Conway a reason opportunity to respond, violated Ms. Conway's due process rights, and abused its discretion by issuing a Report tainted with inappropriate external influences."
"OSC's 'call' upon the President 'to remove Ms. Conway from her federal position immediately' is as outrageous as it is unprecedented," the letter continues. "OSC's overreaching recommendation is wholly unsupported by any statute or the Constitution. Additionally, it appears that OSC has not been applying its vague standards evenhandedly across Democratic and Republican administrations."
OSC, unrelated to Robert Mueller's Special Counsel, claims Conway used her official government position to "disparage Democrat presidential and Senate candidates" during media interviews and on social media.
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