Watchdog Alleges Hatch Act Violations by Biden Appointee Behind ‘Kamala Wins’ X Account

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The Hatch Act, which became law in 1939, prohibits federal workers from conducting partisan political activities on official time.

WASHINGTON—A watchdog complaint alleges that a Biden administration official violated federal ethics law by actively maintaining a “Kamala Wins” X account supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign earlier this year.

Ethan Wolf was named in a Hatch Act Complaint filed with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) on Dec. 11. It alleges that the communications specialist at the International Trade Commission (ITC) repeatedly posted “blatant political content during the government workday” on the X account.
The Hatch Act, which became law in 1939, prohibits federal workers from conducting partisan political activities on official time, while on government property, or in any other public setting that could be construed as an endorsement of a particular candidate.

“This is a straightforward case where Wolf is a government employee covered by the Hatch Act and is strictly prohibited from making political social media posts during work hours or while in government buildings,” the FACT complaint stated.

“Yet, a political account directly controlled by Wolf (‘Kamala’s Wins’) and potentially several other accounts (under the ’Democratic Wins Media’ umbrella) were actively posting political content during federal government workdays,” the complaint continued.

“Involvement by Wolf of any kind with any of these accounts would be a Hatch Act violation. Given the prominence of Wolf’s political account, his political activity could easily be seen as coercive and hostile to other employees.”

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The FACT complaint listed multiple examples of “Kamala Wins” posts on X posted during official work hours that advocated the vice president’s election against former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.

The X account was titled “Biden Wins” prior to President Joe Biden’s July decision to withdraw his candidacy for a second term and endorse Harris, who was then selected as the party’s nominee by the Democratic National Convention in August.

Jeff Zients, then-White House COVID-19 response coordinator, speaks during a press briefing at the White House, in Washington, on April 13, 2021. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Jeff Zients, then-White House COVID-19 response coordinator, speaks during a press briefing at the White House, in Washington, on April 13, 2021. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Wolf was appointed in 2023 to the ITC position as a Schedule C political appointee.

Political appointees, unlike career employees, can be fired at will, but they are covered fully by the Hatch Act. Zachary Kurz, an OSC spokesman, confirmed to The Epoch Times that the FACT complaint had been filed, and said that Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger could not comment on the case.

Wolf said, according to the complaint, to not be the sole poster on the “Kamala Wins” X account. “He has not provided any details about his work with the account or who was actually making the posts and when. The account continued to be active at all times of the day and posted blatant political content during the government workday,” the complaint alleged.

Wolf is the second political appointee in the Biden administration to be accused of Hatch Act violations. In November, the OSC filed a Hatch Act complaint with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) against Neera Tanden, Biden’s White House Domestic Policy Adviser.

The OSC said that on Aug. 30, 2024, Tanden took down an X post she had put up the day before, encouraging contributions to Democratic congressional candidates.

“On August 30, OSC attorneys conveyed that Ms. Tanden’s post violated the Hatch Act, and she promptly removed the post from her X account. However, less than one week later, Tanden again solicited political contributions and continued to do so throughout September,” the OSC said.

Original News Source Link – Epoch Times

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