Jim Jordan Says Dems Are Targeting Kellyanne Conway Because ‘She’s Good at What She Does’

 

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) said Wednesday that White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is being targeted by Democrats because she’s “effective” as the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena her for testimony.

The vote to subpoena Conway, which passed 25 to 16, comes amid a recommendation from the Office of the Special Counsel to fire Conway for alleged violations of the Hatch Act, a 1939 law that prevents federal employees from engaging in certain political activities.

According to the Office of the Special Counsel, the law’s purposes are to “ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation.”

Special counsel Henry Kerner said Conway violated the Hatch Act by “disparaging Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in her official capacity during television interviews and on social media,” CNN reports.

“The report from the Office of the Special Counsel is outrageous, it’s unprecedented, it’s unfair, and it’s just flat out wrong,” Jordan said Wednesday.

“Let’s be clear about the Hatch Act: a federal employee can’t come to work and hand out partisan literature, can’t come to work and hand out yard signs. A federal employee can’t come to work and raise funds for a candidate or pressure subordinates to support a particular political party. But a senior advisor to the President of the United States can sure as heck go on cable news shows and answer questions,” he continued, noting that David Axelrod, John Podesta, and others did the same thing for former President Barack Obama.

Americans hate unfairness.

These supposed "Hatch Act" allegations against @KellyannePolls are ridiculous and unfair. pic.twitter.com/F7ZjsXPLGM

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) June 26, 2019

“But now that it’s a strong-willed Republican helping President Trump—oh, can’t have that,” Jordan continued. “Americans hate unfairness and they know it when they see it. They also hate double standards.”

Jordan concluded by comparing the situation to the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups under the Obama administration.

“The IRS really didn’t target Tea Party groups because they were conservative. You know why they targeted them? Because they were effective, and that’s the same thing we see in play here,” he said. “Ms. Conway’s being targeted not just because she’s a conservative, not just because she’s in the Trump administration, but she’s being targeted because she’s good at what she does. And that’s why this should not stand. The idea that Democrats are going to now subpoena her is just ridiculous.”

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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Jim Jordan” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0