John,
After CREW filed multiple complaints against President Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro for his blatant Hatch Act violations, the Office of Special Counsel made it official and recommended that he be disciplined for breaking the law. Navarro joins more than a dozen Trump administration officials in being reprimanded for using his official position for partisan purposes. Illegally co-opting the government to try to keep the president in power was part of the regular order of business in this White House.
Navarro, much like Kellyanne Conway before him, is a notably egregious Hatch Act violator. Not only did he violate the law repeatedly, but he continued to commit violations after being trained on how to avoid them—and while knowing that the Office of Special Counsel was investigating him. Read more on Navarro’s outrageous violations here.
Of course, Navarro’s violations are unfortunately nothing new in a White House that has been marked by contempt for the rule of law. President Trump’s recent pardon of Michael Flynn made that crystal clear: President Trump only believes in “law and order” when he can use it as a racist dog whistle.
Presidential pardon power was never intended to be a way for the president to let his friends, cronies, and family members off the hook. But if recent reporting and past behavior are any indication, we could expect to see many more pardons in the coming weeks—Trump is reportedly considering pardoning three of his adult children and his son-in-law, numerous campaign associates, and even patrons of his businesses. In fact, allies of Joe Exotic of “Tiger King” fame reportedly spent over $14,000 at Trump’s DC Hotel in an effort to sway President Trump. While it hasn’t led to a pardon for him yet, it’s appalling that we have to ask if decisions about pardons are being influenced by the president’s bottom line.
Pardons are an important part of our constitutional system—but when they’re abused by the president in order to let his customers, campaign staff, relatives or cronies off the hook, it damages the whole system’s integrity. Of course, that’s just one way that President Trump has eroded our democracy—and here at CREW, we’ll be hard at work pushing for accountability and real reform for as long as it takes to make things right.
Thank you,
Donald Sherman
Deputy Director, CREW
