When President Donald Trump accepted the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions the day after the midterm elections and promptly named Sessions’ Chief of Staff Matt Whitaker to serve temporarily as an unconfirmed acting attorney general, Democrats wasted no time in launching a full-on assault against the new pick.
Some have suggested that Whitaker is too partisan to head the Department of Justice. Other Democrat activists have also dug up “evidence” to prompt a federal inquiry into possible Hatch Act violations by Whitaker.
The federal Office of Special Counsel — a completely separate entity than the Robert Mueller special counsel probe investigating alleged Russian election interference — is looking into whether fairly recent contributions into an old campaign fund for Whitaker violated the Hatch Act, which restricts certain political activities for federal employees.
Hatch Act violations?
Primarily at issue for the Office of Special Counsel investigation are four donations totaling about $8,800, made in early 2018 to the old 2014 campaign fund that still remained following Whitaker’s unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat from Iowa.
Liberal-leaning watchdog group American Oversight filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel alleging Hatch Act violations in relation to those recent donations. Though the office has confirmed that it will look into the matter, it is noteworthy that the office can only recommend disciplinary action to the Department of Justice — now headed by Whitaker himself — and not take any such actions on its own.
Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight, told CNN, “After years of being completely dormant and only after he joined Jeff Sessions’ office as chief of staff, Whitaker’s campaign started receiving a cluster of contributions. It appears to violate the black-letter law of the Hatch Act.”
CNN tracked down the former treasurer of Whitaker’s failed Senate campaign, former Whitaker law partner William Gustoff, who said the recent donations had not been solicited by him or Whitaker, explained that the 2014 campaign fund had remained active in order to pay back Whitaker for funds he loaned his own campaign, and noted that he’d had no contact with any of the donors.
Partisan political activities
Other separate issues that Whitaker’s opponents hope to use against him include the $900,000 in compensation he received in 2016-2017 from a non-profit group known as The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust.
Another issue is Whitaker’s prior political activities — as far back as 2008, when he was a U.S. Attorney in Iowa — such as registering, but not using, political website domain names, which could call into question his impartiality and level of partisanship.
Along those lines, Whitaker has also faced withering criticism from Democrats for opinionated commentary he delivered as a civilian in recent years with regard to the alleged crimes of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the need to limit the scope of the Mueller investigation.
[show_poll poll_id=1071]
Those last two reasons — a stated desire to see Clinton prosecuted and Mueller reined in — are what is really at issue here with Whitaker’s critics, as they fear he will proceed with prosecution against Clinton — as well as others in her orbit — and either undermine or completely end the Mueller probe.
The allegations of Hatch Act violations and prior partisan activity are merely a smokescreen and an attempt to discredit Whitaker in a nakedly partisan bid to protect Clinton and Mueller, as if past attorney generals weren’t totally partisan themselves, such as Eric Holder or Loretta Lynch.
Whether that effort succeeds at knocking Whitaker out of DOJ action remains to be seen.
537 Responses
Oh my goodness! Amazing article dude! Thank you so much, However I am encountering issues with your RSS. I don’t understand the reason why I cannot subscribe to it. Is there anybody having the same RSS issues? Anyone that knows the solution will you kindly respond? Thanx!!
I blog often and I really thank you for your information. This great article has truly peaked my interest. I’m going to bookmark your site and keep checking for new information about once per week. I opted in for your Feed as well.
Everyone loves it whenever people get together and share views. Great blog, keep it up!
Hi there! This post could not be written much better! Going through this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He always kept preaching about this. I’ll send this article to him. Pretty sure he’ll have a good read. I appreciate you for sharing!
This page truly has all the info I wanted about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
Right here is the right webpage for anybody who would like to find out about this topic. You understand so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I really would want to…HaHa). You certainly put a new spin on a topic which has been written about for a long time. Excellent stuff, just excellent!
Spot on with this write-up, I actually feel this web site needs a lot more attention. I’ll probably be back again to read more, thanks for the info!
Spot on with this write-up, I honestly feel this amazing site needs a lot more attention. I’ll probably be back again to read through more, thanks for the advice!
I needed to thank you for this excellent read!! I certainly loved every little bit of it. I’ve got you saved as a favorite to look at new stuff you post…
I’m impressed, I must say. Seldom do I encounter a blog that’s both educative and interesting, and let me tell you, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The issue is something not enough men and women are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy I stumbled across this during my search for something concerning this.
I’m amazed, I have to admit. Seldom do I come across a blog that’s both educative and interesting, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. The problem is an issue that too few people are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy I came across this in my search for something concerning this.
Pretty! This was an incredibly wonderful article. Thank you for supplying this info.
An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a co-worker who has been conducting a little homework on this. And he in fact ordered me breakfast simply because I discovered it for him… lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending some time to talk about this subject here on your web page.
I seriously love your website.. Great colors & theme. Did you build this amazing site yourself? Please reply back as I’m looking to create my very own blog and would like to learn where you got this from or just what the theme is called. Many thanks!
Oh my goodness! Amazing article dude! Thanks, However I am experiencing problems with your RSS. I don’t know why I am unable to join it. Is there anybody getting identical RSS problems? Anyone that knows the answer will you kindly respond? Thanx!!
I couldn’t resist commenting. Very well written!
This website really has all the information and facts I needed about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
Howdy! I could have sworn I’ve visited this website before but after looking at a few of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely happy I stumbled upon it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back frequently!
Pretty! This has been an extremely wonderful article. Thank you for supplying these details.
Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon everyday. It’s always useful to read content from other authors and use a little something from other websites.
I’m amazed, I must say. Rarely do I come across a blog that’s both equally educative and interesting, and let me tell you, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The issue is something that not enough men and women are speaking intelligently about. Now i’m very happy that I found this during my search for something concerning this.
It’s hard to find well-informed people in this particular topic, however, you seem like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
I truly love your site.. Great colors & theme. Did you make this amazing site yourself? Please reply back as I’m planning to create my own blog and want to find out where you got this from or what the theme is called. Cheers!
I really love your site.. Very nice colors & theme. Did you develop this amazing site yourself? Please reply back as I’m attempting to create my own personal website and want to know where you got this from or exactly what the theme is called. Cheers!
An outstanding share! I have just forwarded this onto a colleague who has been doing a little homework on this. And he in fact bought me lunch due to the fact that I found it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending the time to talk about this issue here on your blog.
After looking into a number of the articles on your website, I truly like your way of blogging. I saved as a favorite it to my bookmark site list and will be checking back soon. Please visit my web site as well and tell me what you think.
I needed to thank you for this good read!! I absolutely loved every little bit of it. I have you bookmarked to check out new things you post…
I used to be able to find good information from your blog posts.
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this post and also the rest of the website is extremely good.
This website certainly has all the info I wanted concerning this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
Your style is very unique in comparison to other folks I have read stuff from. I appreciate you for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I will just bookmark this web site.
Aw, this was a very good post. Taking the time and actual effort to generate a very good article… but what can I say… I hesitate a whole lot and don’t seem to get nearly anything done.
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you penning this article and also the rest of the website is extremely good.
It’s really a nice and useful piece of info. I’m satisfied that you shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
Spot on with this write-up, I really believe this website needs much more attention. I’ll probably be returning to see more, thanks for the information!
After I initially commented I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now whenever a comment is added I recieve four emails with the same comment. There has to be an easy method you can remove me from that service? Thanks a lot!
Very good blog post. I absolutely love this website. Keep writing!
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon every day. It’s always interesting to read through content from other writers and use a little something from their websites.
Everything is very open with a clear explanation of the challenges. It was really informative. Your website is useful. Many thanks for sharing!
The very next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesn’t fail me just as much as this particular one. After all, Yes, it was my choice to read through, however I really thought you would probably have something useful to talk about. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something you could possibly fix if you weren’t too busy searching for attention.