An ethics group has filed a complaint against White House press secretary Sarah Sanders for tweeting a photo of herself with rapper Kanye West, who was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel against Sanders on Friday and requested the OCS investigate if Sanders violated the Hatch Act by posting the photo on her government social media account. That law prohibits federal employees from using their offices to campaign for or against political candidates.
“This action was directed toward the success or failure of Donald J. Trump, a candidate in a partisan race,” the complaint read. “By tweeting this post on a Twitter account referring to her official position and that she uses for official business, Ms. Sanders likely engaged in political activity prohibited by law.”
Never a dull moment in the @realDonaldTrump White House. Thank you Kanye West! pic.twitter.com/BS4rzZVlZJ
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) October 11, 2018
“This administration does not seem to care about what the law says when it comes to ethics issues like using official positions for politics,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement Friday. “How many investigations and findings of violations are needed until this administration takes action to stop the misuse of government resources for political activity?”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
CREW has filed other Hatch Act complaints against Sanders and other members of the Trump administration in the past. Ten White House staffers, including Sanders, had complaints filed against them in August for engaging in political activity on their official government Twitter accounts.
