Bush White House Violations: Political Briefings Reportedly Violated Hatch Act

WASHINGTON — The White House Office of Political Affairs during the George W. Bush administration violated the law by giving briefings to political employees, concludes a government report issued Monday.

The report says the electoral success of the Republican Party and possible strategies for achieving it often were on the agenda at some 75 political briefings at 20 federal agencies from 2001 to 2007. Prohibited political activities were prevalent in the months running up to the 2006 midterm elections, according to the report.

The Office of Special Counsel concluded that such briefings should take place away from the federal workplace during nonbusiness hours and that attendance should be completely optional.

Those who gave the briefings said they were intended to boost morale among political appointees and provide an overview of the "political landscape."

However, witness testimony, e-mail messages and PowerPoint slides used at some of the briefings indicate that the meetings were more overtly political.

"Because most of the briefings took place during normal business hours and in government buildings, many of the briefings implicated the Hatch Act's prohibition against engaging in political activity while on duty or in a federal workplace," the report found.

The Office of Special Counsel oversees compliance with the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity.

Hatch Act penalties call for violators, at most, to be removed from their government positions, so the report would appear to have no impact now that the Bush administration has been out of office for two years.

A phone message left at the Office of Special Counsel was not immediately returned.

At the Justice Department, spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler declined immediate comment.

READ THE FULL REPORT (leave a comment if anything stands out to you):

STF Report

Comments

[Face It]

01:50 AM on 02/02/2011

The Bush-Administration cared very little about laws when they wanted to get their work done and they got away with it, unfortunately. This is just one more piece.

[absolutesense]

07:31 PM on 01/31/2011

And what is to prevent this from happening again?

[Daniel Hicks]

08:58 AM on 01/26/2011

So, who exactly does this apply to? How encompassing is the term 'federal worker?' I mean, I'm not sure but I think even Obama is a 'federal worker' who has 'engaged in political activity' during 'normal office hours' for most of the past two years.

[MWest]

06:50 AM on 01/28/2011

Obama is an "elected official" not a "federal worker". It doesn't matter who pays his check, he is only there for as long as the US public elects him to be there. If you are not sure, you shouldn't comment until you are sure.

[Farzan]

08:46 AM on 01/26/2011

One would think the 3/4th of the letters in the word "news" is a good hint that it means something new.

[Tim Elms]

08:40 AM on 01/26/2011

Should be able to find some lay overs at the justice department that are guilty enough to fire.

[DARK STAR]

07:56 AM on 01/26/2011

Impeach every one of them so that they can't be in office ever again. This did not happen and look who showed back up later after working for Nixon, etc.

How we are no longer a nation of laws or accountability (unless politically expedient) is a shame and this is really part of the reason. Thank you Bush, now defend yourself in court.

[Dave-O]

11:47 PM on 01/25/2011

Does this surprise anyone? GW, dick Cheney, rummy, Conde and Gonzo all need to be sent to Gitmo. Karl Rove can join them too

[jinxed]

12:29 AM on 01/26/2011

and they can take Newt on general principle....

[kareemachan]

07:14 AM on 01/26/2011

Wholeheartedly seconded.

[onlythetruthcounts]

11:29 PM on 01/25/2011

He violated my religion to try to get elected.

[onlythetruthcounts]

11:28 PM on 01/25/2011

No I don't miss him at all. He violated my morals.

[jdmn17]

09:24 PM on 01/25/2011

Shocking, just shocking. W was just such an honest, christian man, how could something like this happen in a repub administration? I mean, if it was dems that would make sense but W????

[sushigirl]

08:54 PM on 01/25/2011

Did we really need some kind of report, I could have told you that. Why isn't he and Cheney in jail. I thought if you break the law you pay the consequences, guess I was dead wrong when it comes to Bush/Cheney and the rest of the cronies.

[hobo62]

07:59 PM on 01/25/2011

Send him to Gitmo. As a prisoner. He and his cronies did more to destroy this country than anyone in history.

[rjmaxamjr]

09:08 PM on 01/25/2011

Slow down. He was a terrible president, obviously, but probably not the worst in our history. There have been a ton of horrible presidents, there is probably 4 bad presidents for every 1 good one. There have only been 3-5 "great" presidents, depending on a person's opinion.

[Fattonecat]

10:12 PM on 01/25/2011

... and Bush is the worst of the worst.

[kinnycut]

07:30 PM on 01/25/2011

Wow! Now this is a real shocker.

[blukazoo]

07:17 PM on 01/25/2011

Not exactly a news flash, but it would be nice if some of their violations were actually prosecuted instead of being swept under the rug...

[jinxed]

12:31 AM on 01/26/2011

pretty soon that pile under the rug will be so high something will have to be done or they can get a bigger rug I guess

[JustJoy7]

07:02 PM on 01/25/2011

Just the tip of the iceberg. There is much unrevealed about rethuglican wins in elections since 2000.