A government watchdog agency determined this month that White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre violated the Hatch Act by repeatedly saying “mega MAGA Republicans” in a press conference leading up to the 2022 midterms.
The Office of Special Counsel (OSC), in a letter shared with NBC News, said that Jean-Pierre’s word choice when referring to Republican candidates while acting in her official capacity violated the Hatch Act — a federal law that sets limits on federal employees to prevent them from influencing or interfering with elections.
“Because Ms. Jean-Pierre made the statements while acting in her official capacity, she violated the Hatch Act prohibition against her using her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election,” Ana Galindo-Marrone, leader of the Office of Special Counsel’s Hatch Act Unit, wrote in a letter June 7.
The letter continued on to say that the OSC wouldn’t pursue any disciplinary actions against Jean-Pierre aside from a warning letter. Part of the reasoning, Galindo-Marrone wrote, was that the White House legal team “did not at the time believe Ms. Jean-Pierre’s remarks were prohibited,” and that it was “unclear” if Jean-Pierre knew that the phrasing “MAGA Republicans” was not allowed.
Conservative watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust filed a Hatch Act complaint against Jean–Pierre last November, following repeated comments she made during a Nov. 2 White House press briefing that disparaged Republican candidates. Michael Chamberlain, head of the group, condemned the lack of disciplinary action as further reasoning for Americans to distrust the Biden administration’s ethics claims after promising to uphold the highest standards.
“This episode illustrates exactly what people hate about Washington, DC and why they increasingly distrust the Biden Administration’s promises to be the most ethical in history,” Chamberlain told NBC News in a statement.
Jean-Pierre has repeatedly cited the Hatch Act when refusing to answer questions from journalists or only giving limited answers. In her remarks at the Nov. 2 press briefing, she referred to “mega MAGA Republican” policies and politicians in a disparaging way.
“Unfortunately, we have seen mega MAGA Republican officials who don’t believe in the rule of law. They refuse to accept the results of free and fair elections and they fan the flames of political violence through what they praise and what they refuse to condemn. It remains important for the president to state strongly and unequivocally that violence has no place in our democracy,” Jean-Pierre said during the briefing.
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