After an investigation, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel has sent a report to Donald Trump recommending White House "Counselor to the President" Kellyanne Conway be removed from federal service for repeated violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits campaign activities by government employees using the resources of their government offices. In a public release, the Office of Special Counsel notes that "although the President and Vice President are exempt from the Hatch Act,” other White House employees are not.
OSC's letter to the president accompanying the report refers to Ms. Conway as a "repeat offender" and 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 principle foundation of our democratic system—the rule of law.
The release cites "numerous" occasions on which Conway disparaged Democratic presidential candidates in her official White House capacity, and specifically notes her recent mocking dismissals of the Hatch Act, telling an interviewer, "If you're trying to silence me through the Hatch Act, it's not going to work" and "Let me know when the jail sentence starts."
Because Conway is a presidential appointee, disciplinary actions against Conway—including dismissal—must be taken by Donald Trump himself. Trump could, and likely will, ignore the Office of Special Counsel's report. By publicly releasing their blistering assessment of Conway's behavior and recommending she be removed from federal service entirely, the OSC is making sure that a Trump decision to ignore her violations—sending "a message to all federal employees that they need not abide" by current law—not only falls entirely on Trump himself, but is understood to be in itself a radical, "eroding" act corruptive of the rule of law.
The White House press office has already offered the usual pouting response. It is not worth even quoting from.