Fudge joined White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki during the briefing on Thursday, where she was asked about the special election to fill her current holiday set in Congress.
Although Fudge did not want to weigh the House race, she told reporters that she believes Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley and U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, both Democrats, were strong candidates to fill the seat currently being held by the Republican senator. Rob Portman is occupied, who announced in January he does not want to seek re-election when his current term ends in 2022.
“I think we’re going to put a good person in that race no matter who we choose, but they’re both friends,” Fudge said, adding: “I think we have a good chance. I know people “I did not write Ohio. I believe we can win the Senate race.”
According to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the agency charged with investigating Hatch Act violations, federal employees are prohibited from “using their official titles or positions while engaging in political activity,” including “any activity that aimed at the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group. ‘
An OSC spokesman told CNN on Friday that the office could not comment or confirm whether an investigation into Fudge’s comments had been opened. A HUD spokesman told CNN on Friday that the agency had not commented. The White House declined to comment Friday on the issue.
“The Hatch Act prohibits officials from pleading for or against candidates in a biased political election in their official capacity,” Jordan Libowitz, who serves as communications director of the nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Friday. told CNN. “When we talk about the candidates who can win elections, they enter a dangerous area. Our legal team is currently investigating this situation for a possible violation, but whether it is one, even if it is best for the cabinet secretaries to completely resolve the issue avoid.”
The Washington Post reported for the first time on Friday on Fudge’s possible violation of the Hatch Act.
Under former President Donald Trump, the White House has regularly ignored violations of the Hatch Act, especially from senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, who has violated the rule so frequently, the special council office recommended that she be removed from the federal service. A number of former Trump officials – including his trade adviser Peter Navarro, former Attorney General William Barr, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, then-acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf and former agricultural secretary Sonny Perdue – have all been criticized for the offense. the deed. , although no one was ever reprimanded.
The office also investigated whether Trump’s Republican National Convention speech, delivered from the White House last August, went wrong with the act, although it came to the conclusion that Trump was not released as president.
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