Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker may have already violated a federal law, according to watchdog group American Oversight.
Whitaker, who assumed the Cabinet-level position after the swift departure of Jeff Sessions the day after the midterm elections, may have violated the Hatch Act by continuing to receive political contributions as a federal employee.
In 2014, Whitaker ran a Senate campaign in Iowa, which he lost, and according to the Federal Election Commission, the acting attorney general is still profiting from political donations. Between January 29 and February 2, Whitaker's campaign received nearly $9,000.
On Wednesday, the watchdog group submitted a complaint to the Office of Special Counsel to look into the donations and the possible violation of the Hatch Act. Under the federal law, executive branch employees are prohibited from engaging in political activity while receiving a taxpayer-funded salary. Whitaker has been working for the Department of Justice since October 2017.
"The contributions appear either designed to benefit Whitaker personally or to support future political activity," American Oversight wrote in a news release on Wednesday.
The watchdog group also noted that Whitaker's campaign committee owes an outstanding debt of nearly $50,000 arising from a personal loan that Whitaker made himself. "If the 2018 contributions were made to retire that debt, the money would benefit Whitaker personally—raising serious concerns about the potential for improper political influence on the nation's top law enforcement official," the group said.
Hatch Act violations have been piling up in the Trump administration, with many of the president's top aides and officials committing the relatively minor infraction.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, Melania Trump's former communications director Stephanie Grisham and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley have all been found guilty of using their offices in a political fashion.
Multiple complaints have been filed by different watchdog groups about the social media usage of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who in October may have violated the Hatch Act twice in two weeks. On one occasion, she posted on her official Twitter account a photo of herself and Kanye West adorned in a "Make America Great Again" hat. The second time, she tweeted a link to an article rumoring a Hillary Clinton 2020 run with the caption "Christmas coming early this year?"
Whitaker has been under intense scrutiny since his appointment to acting attorney general earlier this month, specifically when it comes to his past comments on federal judges, special counsel investigations and payments from right-leaning nonprofit organizations.
A New York Times report earlier this week found that Whitaker had been paid more than $1.2 million in the past few years by a conservative political group that does not reveal its donors. According to financial disclosure statements, the group funded most of Whitaker's income since 2016.
Matthew Miller, a former director of the Office of Public Affairs for the Justice Department, tweeted on Wednesday morning that "Everything about Whitaker's finances…stinks to high heaven. If people keep pulling the string, they're likely to find much more."
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Alexandra Hutzler is currently a staff writer on Newsweek's politics team. Prior to joining Newsweek in summer 2018, she was ... Read more
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