Yes, the White house social media guy broke the law
The administration of President Donald Trump has made some not-so-great social media news yet again, though the president isn't at the center of this story.
Dan Scavino Jr., the White House's director of of social media, violated the Hatch Act by tweeting about politics while on the clock.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel sent a note about the violation on Monday.
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According to the note, Scavino violated the Hatch Act by tweeting about defeating Republican Rep. Justin Amash in a primary election.
The tweet's still up...
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...even though the violation was pointed out pretty fast.
Scavino got a warning and a talkin' to by the Office of the White House Counsel. According to the note, the counsel will consider any future such tweets as "willful and knowing" violations, though it's kinda hard to believe Scavino didn't know about the Hatch Act. The Office of Special Counsel even has a frequently-asked-questions site dedicated to how not to violate the Hatch Act on social media.
Scroll down that site just a bit and you'll find a sentence that says, "Do not engage in political activity while on duty or in the workplace," (the bold and underlined bits appear on the site just as they do here). Scroll a bit farther and you'll learn that the Hatch Act prohibits · "engaging in any political activity via Facebook or Twitter while on duty or in the workplace."
It didn't take long to Google! Maybe Scavino took a look at some point this week.
Topics Donald Trump Politics
Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
