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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: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 06 2018, @09:58AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 06 2018, @09:58AM (#676310)

    At worst, I would probably say that O'Reilly ventured into shadowland, where what he said wasn't so much "illegal", as it was "offensive" to some twit or another.

    Moar legal opinions from a hillbilly ex-trucker! Well, hot-diggety-dawg, son! Ya'll knows, doncha, that illegal is still illegal whether it offends or not? and we have judges to interpret law, so we don't need hillbilly ex-truckers doing it!

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday May 06 2018, @10:43AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday May 06 2018, @10:43AM (#676320) Journal

    Except - a judge didn't determine that O'Reilly's words were illegal. So, in this case, we have moar cognitive disconnect from an anonymous coward. Worse, an anonymous coward who has no opinion on the issue at hand, but jumps at the chance to attack a member with an opinion. Are you, by chance, a redneck?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 08 2018, @05:03PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 08 2018, @05:03PM (#677091)

    Oh hey, a progressive practicing classism. It must be a day that ends in 'y'.