By admin 
During Todd Blanche’s confirmation process, Senate Democrats and some Republicans argued that the president’s former personal attorney lacked the independence needed to serve as attorney general. Now, just one week after he was sworn in, a public interest nonprofit is alleging that Blanche has already violated an ethics law that governs the political activities of federal employees.
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Public Citizen on Tuesday requested that the Office of Special Counsel into an Aug. 14 speech that Blanche gave during a Long Island campaign rally attended by police officers for Bruce Blakeman, a Republican running for New York governor. OSC enforces the Hatch Act.
While most civil servants are permitted to participate in partisan political campaigns, “further restricted employees” — generally those at intelligence and enforcement agencies — are not.
“Though Blanche did not specifically say ‘vote for,’ his participation in the campaign rally along with President Donald Trump constitutes an active endorsement of the Republican candidate,” wrote Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen.
Specifically, Public Citizen said that Blanche is classified as a “further restricted employee” under DOJ policy. Additionally, civil servants are barred under the Hatch Act from engaging in political activities in their official capacity. The organization said that Blanche was identified at the rally as the attorney general.
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A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement to Government Executive that: “This is a politically-motivated complaint designed to weaponize the Hatch Act against the Attorney General for his support of law enforcement. The complaint is baseless, and it will not stop DOJ from continuing to work with our state and local law enforcement partners to keep Americans safe.”
An OSC spokesperson said that the agency has no comment. The Senate recently confirmed Charles Baldis, a former GOP Senate staffer, as the new special counsel.
Several other administration officials have been the subject of Hatch Act complaints.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington accused Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick of running afoul of the Hatch Act for encouraging voters to not support Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayor race. The nonprofit also contended that Labor Department inspector general Anthony D’Esposito broke the ethics rules over apparent actions he took while in office to prepare for a congressional run.
Penalties for violating the Hatch Act include removal from federal service, a grade reduction, ban from federal employment for up to five years, suspension or a civil penalty of up to $1,000.
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