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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday May 06 2018, @03:05AM   Printer-friendly
from the you-scratch-my-back dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow3941

Republican FCC commissioner Michael O'Rielly broke a federal law preventing officials from advocating for political candidates when he told a crowd that one way to avoid policy changes was to "make sure that President Trump gets reelected," according to a newly released letter from government officials. O'Rielly was warned by the officials about making similar comments in the future.

The Hatch Act bars many federal employees from using their offices to influence an election. During the conservative CPAC conference in February, which was also attended by FCC chairman Ajit Pai, O'Rielly was asked about how to avoid rapid swings in policy ushered in by a new administration. "I think what we can do is make sure as conservatives that we elect good people to both the House, the Senate, and make sure that President Trump gets reelected," he responded, adding that there would also be a fight in the US Senate over net neutrality rules.

[...] The office said it has sent a warning letter to O'Rielly this time, but will consider other infractions "a willful and knowing violation of the law" that could lead to legal action.

O'Rielly's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the letter.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/1/17308418/fcc-commissioner-orielly-trump-law


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  • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Monday May 07 2018, @07:06PM

    by urza9814 (3954) on Monday May 07 2018, @07:06PM (#676752) Journal

    I wouldn't call that advocacy, I'd call that a simple, factual statement. If Trump gets reelected, his policies will be very likely to continue; if he doesn't, they may or may not. Telling the truth is nod advocacy. Advocacy requires putting forth an opinion. The opinion that Trump should be reelected is what is necessary to call anything advocacy in favor of him.

    The truth is that the Trump administration is the least stable executive branch in at least recent history. How is maintaining a record-breaking level of instability supposed to bring about greater stability?

    http://fortune.com/2017/12/28/trump-white-house-record-first-year-turnover-rate/ [fortune.com]

    The other truth is that Trump doesn't really set policy, Congress does.

    If he had told them to keep the incumbent congress -- Democrats included -- then yes, it would be a factually correct statement. But saying that the least stable person around who has no Constitutional right to set policy is going to be the one person who can keep that policy stable is not a factually correct statement, it's a joke.

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