Today's Article
Some agency
appointees have
directly asked Bush
spin doctors how
they might help 'our
candidates'.
appointees have
directly asked Bush
spin doctors how
they might help 'our
candidates'.
The American Spark
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How Often Did Bush Administration Use Government Agencies For
Partisan Purposes?
By Cliff Montgomery - June 5th, 2007
A task force is being put together by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to conduct a government-wide
investigation into the Bush Administration's apparent violations of a law which outlaws partisan political activity
in federal agencies.
Loren Smith, a spokesman for OSC, the independent agency charged with investigating suspected Hatch Act
violations, told Government Executive magazine that the agency is still trying to determine who will be on the
task force.
The investigation may last from a few months to "well into 2008," Smith added.
James Byrne, deputy special counsel at OSC, is already slated to head the task force. OSC Hatch Act division
chief Ana Galindo-Marrone will be deeply involved in its day-to-day activities, Smith told Government Executive.
"We're taking the steps that we need to get the task force up and running. We're recruiting members...There
may [even] be outside hires," Smith said.
OSC recently found General Services Administration (GSA) chief Lurita Doan guilty of violating the Hatch Act,
via her role in a Jan. 26th meeting with Bush Administration spin doctors at the agency's headquarters.
The partisan discussion, involving Doan and more than 30 other political appointees, contained a PowerPoint
presentation by Scott Jennings--a deputy to Karl Rove, the top Bush Administration spin doctor. The slides
listed both vulnerable Republicans and Democratic political targets the Bush Administration has pegged for
possible defeat in 2008.
At the end of the briefing, Doan directly asked Jennings how GSA activities might help "our candidates,"
according to at least half a dozen witnesses recently quoted by the Washington Post.
The GSA meeting came to light in March of this year, and prompted an investigation by the House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee.
The Bush Administration further revealed last month that Rove deputies held about 20 other such briefings
with federal agency appointees in 2006 and 2007. This revelation prompted OSC officials last month to create
the new task force looking into the partisan presentations.
The tenure of Scott Bloch, director of the OSC, expires in December 2008; but previous OSC heads have
extended their direction of the agency due to ongoing investigations.
Don't count the White House out just yet, however. Previous OSC head Elaine Kaplan has actually claimed
that nothing in OSC's investigative report on GSA suggests any improper happenings at the agency before
Doan initiated the discussion with Jennings.
"As OSC investigates the presentations given at other agencies, it will be looking closely at the remarks that
were made by the officials who hosted or gave the presentation and the employees who participated in it,"
Kaplan admitted.
But in such circumstances, it is the responsibility of those heading the discussion to end the matter by making
it clear to one and all that government offices cannot be used for political brainstorming, Kaplan told
Government Executive.
But this is false reasoning on Kaplan's part. For Kaplan's interpretation is like declaring that a judge should find
guilty of numerous robberies not the actual robbers, but those present who failed to stop the robberies.
Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA), who guided the questioning of Doan during a Mar. 28th House Oversight and
Government Reform Committee hearing, agrees. He retorts that a partisan presentation given on government
property is itself a violation of the Hatch Act.
"When you talk about 2008 targeted races, and the only targets on that page are Democrats and the
presentation is from the White House political office, that's clearly a violation," Braley told Government
Executive.
William Wiley, former counsel to a Merit Systems Protection Board director appointed by President Clinton, also
questioned Kaplan's reasoning. The OSC should simply rule on Hatch Act violations using the "preponderance
of evidence" legal standard, he said to Government Executive.
"If the meeting is directed toward the success of a particular party, then it's a Hatch Act violation," said Wiley.
"It's a slam dunk if I were the judge. It doesn't have to be as raw as [someone saying] 'What can we do to
support our people?' for OSC to find violations," he added.
Wiley thinks the person to find culpable in each case should be the one who first directed the federal
employees to attend the meeting.
In any case, the question remains: Will the OSC also hold accountable top Bush Administration spin doctors
for the Hatch Act violations, or just a few unfamiliar Bush appointees?
* Correction - In a May 25th article revealing possible Hatch Act violations by the Bush White House
"throughout the last six years", the GSA meeting in which agency chief Lurita Doan apparently spoke to Bush
spin doctor Scott Jennings was wrongly said to have occurred in January 2006. In fact the meeting occurred in
January of this year.
The May 25th article has been corrected.
Like what you're reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of the The American Spark
e-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be
delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, at a price you can easily afford. Order Now!
Partisan Purposes?
By Cliff Montgomery - June 5th, 2007
A task force is being put together by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to conduct a government-wide
investigation into the Bush Administration's apparent violations of a law which outlaws partisan political activity
in federal agencies.
Loren Smith, a spokesman for OSC, the independent agency charged with investigating suspected Hatch Act
violations, told Government Executive magazine that the agency is still trying to determine who will be on the
task force.
The investigation may last from a few months to "well into 2008," Smith added.
James Byrne, deputy special counsel at OSC, is already slated to head the task force. OSC Hatch Act division
chief Ana Galindo-Marrone will be deeply involved in its day-to-day activities, Smith told Government Executive.
"We're taking the steps that we need to get the task force up and running. We're recruiting members...There
may [even] be outside hires," Smith said.
OSC recently found General Services Administration (GSA) chief Lurita Doan guilty of violating the Hatch Act,
via her role in a Jan. 26th meeting with Bush Administration spin doctors at the agency's headquarters.
The partisan discussion, involving Doan and more than 30 other political appointees, contained a PowerPoint
presentation by Scott Jennings--a deputy to Karl Rove, the top Bush Administration spin doctor. The slides
listed both vulnerable Republicans and Democratic political targets the Bush Administration has pegged for
possible defeat in 2008.
At the end of the briefing, Doan directly asked Jennings how GSA activities might help "our candidates,"
according to at least half a dozen witnesses recently quoted by the Washington Post.
The GSA meeting came to light in March of this year, and prompted an investigation by the House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee.
The Bush Administration further revealed last month that Rove deputies held about 20 other such briefings
with federal agency appointees in 2006 and 2007. This revelation prompted OSC officials last month to create
the new task force looking into the partisan presentations.
The tenure of Scott Bloch, director of the OSC, expires in December 2008; but previous OSC heads have
extended their direction of the agency due to ongoing investigations.
Don't count the White House out just yet, however. Previous OSC head Elaine Kaplan has actually claimed
that nothing in OSC's investigative report on GSA suggests any improper happenings at the agency before
Doan initiated the discussion with Jennings.
"As OSC investigates the presentations given at other agencies, it will be looking closely at the remarks that
were made by the officials who hosted or gave the presentation and the employees who participated in it,"
Kaplan admitted.
But in such circumstances, it is the responsibility of those heading the discussion to end the matter by making
it clear to one and all that government offices cannot be used for political brainstorming, Kaplan told
Government Executive.
But this is false reasoning on Kaplan's part. For Kaplan's interpretation is like declaring that a judge should find
guilty of numerous robberies not the actual robbers, but those present who failed to stop the robberies.
Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA), who guided the questioning of Doan during a Mar. 28th House Oversight and
Government Reform Committee hearing, agrees. He retorts that a partisan presentation given on government
property is itself a violation of the Hatch Act.
"When you talk about 2008 targeted races, and the only targets on that page are Democrats and the
presentation is from the White House political office, that's clearly a violation," Braley told Government
Executive.
William Wiley, former counsel to a Merit Systems Protection Board director appointed by President Clinton, also
questioned Kaplan's reasoning. The OSC should simply rule on Hatch Act violations using the "preponderance
of evidence" legal standard, he said to Government Executive.
"If the meeting is directed toward the success of a particular party, then it's a Hatch Act violation," said Wiley.
"It's a slam dunk if I were the judge. It doesn't have to be as raw as [someone saying] 'What can we do to
support our people?' for OSC to find violations," he added.
Wiley thinks the person to find culpable in each case should be the one who first directed the federal
employees to attend the meeting.
In any case, the question remains: Will the OSC also hold accountable top Bush Administration spin doctors
for the Hatch Act violations, or just a few unfamiliar Bush appointees?
* Correction - In a May 25th article revealing possible Hatch Act violations by the Bush White House
"throughout the last six years", the GSA meeting in which agency chief Lurita Doan apparently spoke to Bush
spin doctor Scott Jennings was wrongly said to have occurred in January 2006. In fact the meeting occurred in
January of this year.
The May 25th article has been corrected.
Like what you're reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of the The American Spark
e-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be
delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, at a price you can easily afford. Order Now!