Office of the Special Counsel chief Henry Kerner admitted in an interview with the Washington Post that it was “unprecedented” for his office to recommend that White House counselor Kellyanne Conway be fired.
But the crime warranted the punishment, he insisted.
“You know what else is unprecedented? Kellyanne Conway’s behavior,” Kerner told the Post after the Office of Special Counsel released a statement condemning Conway for her repeated violations of the Hatch Act, which bans federal works from conducting political work from their federal post.
“In interview after interview, she uses her official capacity to disparage announced candidates, which is not allowed,” Kerner, a 2017 Trump appointee, told the Post. “What kind of example does that send to the federal workforce? If you’re high enough up in the White House, you break the law, but if you’re a postal carrier or a regular federal worker, you lose your job?”
After Kerner’s office announced it’s recommendation, the White House pushed back in a statement and a scathing letter sent by White House counsel Pat Cipollone, accusing the OSC of opening the investigation because of media reports.
