特朗普政府任命的一名前政治官员因不当利用其在住房和城市发展部的官方职位支持前总统而受到纪律处分唐纳德·特朗普美国特别顾问办公室周二宣布。
林恩·巴顿(Lynne Patton)曾担任住房和城市发展部(HUD)的地区行政长官，在承认违反《孵化法》(Hatch Act)后，被罚款1000美元，并被禁止在联邦政府工作四年。孵化法是一项联邦法律，限制联邦雇员的党派活动，以确保政府公平运作。
特别顾问办公室在一份新闻稿中说，特朗普的坚定支持者巴顿滥用她的平视显示器位置和关系，制作了一段视频，宣传在特朗普担任2020年共和党全国代表大会主席期间，纽约市住房管理局的住房条件有所改善。
“作为住房和城市发展部的雇员，巴顿在2019年初获得了在纽约市住房管理局(NYCHA)暂时居住和观察生活条件的许可，”特别顾问办公室写道。“在她大约一个月的逗留期间，巴顿会见了居民，后来利用这些关系中的一个来招募参与者拍摄一个将在RNC播出的视频。巴顿希望纽约市民出现在视频中，解释他们的生活水平在特朗普政府时期是如何提高的。”
巴顿在社交媒体上发布的一份声明中写道，她从HUD的道德办公室获得了“事先许可和书面法律指导”，并在制作视频时遵循了他们的指示。她写道，离开政府后，她咨询了律师，律师告诉她，获得HUD的许可并不能减轻罪行。
她还说，视频中的居民没有被“欺骗”，尽管他们中的一些人去年告诉《纽约时报》，他们没有被告知该视频将在2020年共和党全国代表大会上播放。
巴顿写道:“因此，我永远不会后悔制作了一段共和党全国代表大会视频，强调了由于特朗普总统、[本]卡森国务卿和我本人的努力，纽约市公共住房管理局(NYCHA)正在进行永久和持续的改善。”
巴顿此前曾接受过警告信特别顾问办公室因宣传政治推文和以官方身份展示特朗普的官方竞选商品。在收到警告信之前，巴顿在社交媒体上写道作为对她在政治推特上的批评的回应，她“诚实地[不再]关心”她是否违反了《孵化法案》。
在特朗普政府的四年里，批评者指责多名政府官员在促进总统连任的同时履行公务，违反了哈奇法案。
公职与竞选活动的结合促使众议院民主党人开始调查国务卿是否迈克·蓬佩奥去年在一次正式的海外旅行中，在共和党全国代表大会上发言时违反了哈奇法案。蓬佩奥调查的现状尚不清楚。
在此之前，特别顾问办公室发现特朗普当时的高级顾问凯莱恩·康威违反了哈奇法案在电视采访和社交媒体上以官方身份发表讲话时，多次贬低当时的民主党总统候选人。
华盛顿善政组织“公民责任与道德”的主席诺亚·布克班德(Noah Bookbinder)对巴顿提出了投诉，她说巴顿的行为“特别恶劣”，因为她不仅将自己的官方职位用于政治目的，还“误导和剥削公共住房居民以获取政治利益”。
“林恩·巴顿应该被问责，应该被禁止在联邦政府任职，”布克班德在一份声明中写道。“看到令人愤慨的不当行为的真实后果是令人欣慰的。我们感谢特别顾问办公室和功绩系统保护委员会为确保美国人民的道德政府所做的辛勤工作。”
Former Trump HUD official fined and barred from federal employment for violating Hatch Act
A former political appointee under the Trump administration has been disciplined for improperly using her official position in the Department of Housing and Urban Development to support former PresidentDonald Trump's reelection campaign, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel announced Tuesday.
Lynne Patton, who served as a regional administrator for HUD, was fined $1,000 and barred from federal employment for four years after admitting to violating the Hatch Act, a federal law that limits partisan activity by federal employees to ensure the government functions fairly.
Patton, a vocal supporter of Trump, abused her HUD position and connections to produce a video touting improved housing conditions in the New York City Housing Authority under the Trump presidency for the 2020 Republican National Convention, the Office of Special Counsel said in a press release.
"As a HUD employee, Patton received permission in early 2019 to temporarily live in and observe living conditions in the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)," the Special Counsel's Office wrote. "During her approximately one-month stay, Patton met residents and later leveraged one of these relationships to recruit participants to film a video that would air at the RNC. Patton wanted NYCHA residents to appear in the video to explain how their standard of living had improved under the Trump administration."
In a statement posted on social media, Patton wrote that she received "advance permission and written legal guidance" from HUD's ethics office, and followed their instructions when producing the video. After leaving the administration, she wrote, she consulted with lawyers, who told her that having gotten permission from HUD doesn't mitigate the offense.
She also said that residents featured in the video were not "tricked," though some of them told The New York Times last year that theywere not toldthe video was going to be played at the 2020 Republican National Convention.
"As such, I will never regret creating a Republican National Convention video that highlighted the permanent and continued improvements being made to the New York City Public Housing Authority (NYCHA) thanks to the efforts of President Trump, Secretary [Ben] Carson and myself," Patton wrote.
Patton had previously received awarning letterfrom the Special Counsel's Office for promoting a political tweet and displaying official Trump campaign merchandise in her official capacity. Prior to receiving the warning letter, Pattonwrote on social mediathat she "honestly [doesn't] care anymore" if she violated the Hatch Act, in response to criticisms of her political tweets.
During the four years of the Trump administration, critics accused multiple administration officials of performing official duties while promoting the reelection of the president, in violation of theHatch Act.
The blending of official duties with campaign events prompted the opening of an investigation by House Democrats into whether Secretary of StateMike Pompeoviolated the Hatch Act while speaking at the Republican National Convention last year while on an official overseas trip. The status of the Pompeo investigation is unclear.
Prior to that, the Office of Special Counsel found that Trump's then-senior counselor Kellyanne Conwayviolated the Hatch Actnumerous times by disparaging then-Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in her official capacity during television interviews and on social media.
Noah Bookbinder, president of good-government group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed a complaint against Patton, said Patton's behavior was "particularly egregious" because she not only used her official position for political purposes, but also "misled and exploited public housing residents for political gain."
"Lynne Patton deserves accountability and deserves to be barred from federal employment," Bookbinder wrote in a statement. "It is gratifying to see real consequences for outrageous misconduct. We thank the Office of Special Counsel and Merit Systems Protection Board for their hard work toward ensuring an ethical government for the American people."
