Latest news with #USOfficeofSpecialCounsel
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First Post
03-08-2025
- Politics
- First Post
US officials begin probe against attorney who investigated criminal cases against Trump
The Trump administration is launching probes against Special Counsel Jack Smith, who pursued legal cases against Trump before he was re-elected to the White House. read more The US federal government has launched an investigation against special counsel Jack Smith, who investigated criminal cases against former US President Donald Trump in 2022. The US Office of Special Counsel said on Saturday that it would look into Smith's potential violation of the Hatch Act. The Act in question restricts government employees from political involvement. The announcement of a probe came after Trump and his allies had previously alleged that Smith went after Trump without legal standing to thwart his second campaign for the presidency. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It is pertinent to note that Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith just three days before the president announced his reelection bid. Since then, GOP lawmakers have been pushing for the special prosecutor to be investigated. 'Jack Smith's legal actions were nothing more than a tool for the [former President] Biden and [former Vice President] Harris campaigns. This isn't just unethical, it is very likely illegal campaign activity from a public office,' Senator Tom Cotton wrote in a Wednesday post on the social media platform X. 'Special Counsel Smith pushed for an out-of-the-ordinary, rushed trial for President Trump, with jury selection to begin just two weeks before the Iowa caucuses. No other case of this magnitude and complexity would come to trial this quickly,' the Arkansas senator added in a separate post. What's Smith's take on the matter Meanwhile, Smith has long defended his actions. 'The ultimate decision to bring charges against Mr. Trump was mine. It is a decision I stand behind fully,' Smith wrote in his final report published in mid-January. He made it clear that neither Garland nor anyone else at the Department of Justice encouraged him to prosecute Trump. 'To all who know me well, the claim from Trump that my decisions as a prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors is, in a word, laughable," he added. Amid political pressure, Smith ultimately had to resign from the Justice Department (DOJ) after Trump's November win. He eventually dismissed charges against the POTUS, arguing that he would have secured a conviction against the leader if the legal battles had been tried in court. 'The throughline of all of Trump's criminal efforts was deceit, knowingly false claims of election fraud, and the evidence shows that Trump used these lies as a weapon to defeat a federal government function foundational to the United States' democratic process,' Smith wrote at the time of his exit. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Until Trump obstructed it, this democratic process had operated in a peaceful and orderly manner for more than 130 years,' he added. Earlier this month, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired 20 additional employees tied to Smith weeks before the Office of Special Counsel said it would investigate the prosecutor. It is pertinent to note that the independent body can only research Smith's action and seek disciplinary measures for the federal employee. Investigators can present their findings to the DoJ, and the department can eventually decide whether to press criminal charges.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Black White House aide returns after suspension for past political activity on the job
Lynne Patton, the highest-ranking Black official in Donald Trump's White House, is returning to work this week after fully serving out a suspension from federal employment related to a past Hatch Act she was appointed as deputy assistant to the president and director of minority outreach in late January, Patton stepped aside for two months to comply with a 2021 sanction by the US Office of Special Counsel, Semafor has learned. She's expected to return this week in the same dual special counsel's office settled with Patton after alleging that she improperly used her Department of Housing and Urban Development position during Trump's first term for political purposes. Patton acknowledged violations of the Hatch Act, which is meant to bar federal employees from partisan political activity on the job. The White House did not respond to multiple requests for comment. During the president's first term, OSC singled out more than a dozen members of his administration as violating the Hatch Act. Kellyanne Conway was reprimanded twice for using her position to promote Ivanka Trump's clothing line. Stephanie Grisham, Nikki Haley, and Dan Scavino were reprimanded for using their government social media accounts for political OSC also found that then-Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue unlawfully promoted Trump's reelection in 2020 while delivering an official speech in North Carolina and ordered him to repay costs associated with the trip. None of those offenses rose to the level of Patton's violation, according to the watchdog group that filed multiple complaints against her between 2018 and 2019.'I think Ms. Patton served the harsh penalty for violations, in part because what OSC found with respect to her violations is that she misled citizens about what they were being asked to be a part of,' Donald Sherman, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told Office of Special Counsel found that Patton, while serving as a HUD regional administrator, filmed New York City Housing Authority residents and later used the footage in a video shown at the Republican National Convention. She was fined $1,000 and barred from federal service for 48 months as part of the settlement. Tim Murtagh, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, defended the handling of the video at the time. 'All interview subjects were fully aware of the purpose of the interviews,' he told The New York Times in August. 'Lynne Patton was acting in her own personal capacity.' Not everyone thought the penalty matched the crime. The Project on Government Oversight criticized the special counsel's office for 'singling' out Patton — the only Black woman among the 17 Trump administration officials it found to have violated the Hatch Act during Trump's first term. Trump's administration recently proposed weakening the Hatch Act in order to make it easier for federal officials to support the sitting president, The New York Times reported. During the Biden administration, the Office of Special Counsel sanctioned a federal prosecutor for what it described as 'one of the most egregious Hatch Act violations that OSC has investigated.'
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Government ethics watchdog removed from post amid legal fight with Trump administration
A federal appeals court Wednesday said President Donald Trump can fire a top government watchdog in the latest round of a legal fight over the authority to dismiss federal officials. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., put on hold on a lower court's ruling that found Hampton Dellinger's termination at the Office of Special Counsel was 'unlawful.' The court said it would expedite its review of the ruling, but in the meantime Dellinger can be removed from his post. The White House and Dellinger did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday night. The ruling is a temporary win for Trump as his administration seeks to carry out mass firings of federal workers, including nearly two dozen government watchdog who was special counsel of the Office of Special Counsel, filed a lawsuit against several Trump administration officials last month challenging his dismissal. He argued it violated a federal law that says the president can remove special counsels only for "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.' The email outlining his termination did not cite any of the those as the reason for his firing, Dellinger said in his lawsuit. 'That email made no attempt to comply with the Special Counsel's for-cause removal protection,' the lawsuit says. 'It stated simply: 'On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Special Counsel of the US Office of Special Counsel is terminated, effective immediately.'' Dellinger began his post in March 2024 after he was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate to a five-year term. As head of the Office of Special Counsel, Dellinger was tasked with shielding federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, including retaliation for whistleblowing. His office's work was unrelated to the investigations into Trump led by Jack Smith, whom then-Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed as a special counsel in 2022. Last week, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson halted Trump's effort to remove Dellinger and ordered that he be allowed to serve until the end of his term barring inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. She had allowed Dellinger to remain in his post while the case moved through the courts. Jackson appeared to agree with Dellinger's argument that allowing his termination without cause would have a chilling effect among federal workers seeking to lodge complaints through the Office of Special Counsel. 'The Special Counsel's job is to look into and expose unethical or unlawful practices directed at federal civil servants, and to help ensure that whistleblowers who disclose fraud, waste, and abuse on the part of government agencies can do so without suffering reprisals,' Jackson wrote in her ruling Saturday. 'It would be ironic, to say the least, and inimical to the ends furthered by the statute if the Special Counsel himself could be chilled in his work by fear of arbitrary or partisan removal.' The Justice Department had petitioned the Supreme Court to affirm what it called Trump's right to fire Dellinger, arguing that anything less would infringe on the president's power to manage the executive branch "in the earliest days of his Administration.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
06-03-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Government ethics watchdog removed from post amid legal fight with Trump administration
A federal appeals court Wednesday said President Donald Trump can fire a top government watchdog in the latest round of a legal fight over the authority to dismiss federal officials. The D.C. Court of Appeals put on hold on a lower court's ruling that found Hampton Dellinger's termination at the Office of Special Counsel was 'unlawful.' The court said it would expedite its review of that ruling, but in the meantime Dellinger can be removed from his post. The White House and Dellinger did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday night. The ruling is a temporary win for Trump as his administration seeks to carry out mass firings of federal workers, including nearly two dozen government watchdog officials. Dellinger, who served as special counsel of the Office of Special Counsel, filed a lawsuit last month against several Trump administration officials challenging his dismissal. He argued it violated a federal law that states special counsels can only be removed by the president for "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.' The email outlining his termination did not cite any of the those as the reason for his firing, Dellinger said in his lawsuit. 'That email made no attempt to comply with the Special Counsel's for-cause removal protection,' Dellinger's lawsuit said. 'It stated simply: 'On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Special Counsel of the US Office of Special Counsel is terminated, effective immediately.'' Dellinger began his post in March 2024 after being appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate to a five-year term. As head of the Office of Special Counsel, Dellinger was tasked with shielding federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, including retaliation for whistleblowing. The work of his office was unrelated to the investigations into Trump led by Jack Smith, who was appointed to serve as a special counsel by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022. Last week, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson halted Trump's effort to remove Dellinger and ordered he be allowed to serve until the end of his term barring inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. She had previously allowed Dellinger to remain in his post while the case moved through the courts. Jackson appeared to agree with Dellinger's argument that allowing his termination without cause would incite a chilling effect among federal workers seeking to lodge complaints through the Office of Special Counsel. 'The Special Counsel's job is to look into and expose unethical or unlawful practices directed at federal civil servants, and to help ensure that whistleblowers who disclose fraud, waste, and abuse on the part of government agencies can do so without suffering reprisals,' Jackson wrote in her Saturday ruling. 'It would be ironic, to say the least, and inimical to the ends furthered by the statute if the Special Counsel himself could be chilled in his work by fear of arbitrary or partisan removal.' The Justice Department had previously petitioned the Supreme Court to affirm what it called Trump's right to fire Dellinger, arguing that anything less would infringe on the president's power to manage the executive branch "in the earliest days of his Administration.'
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump appeals to Supreme Court over firing of US agency boss
President Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to allow him to fire the head of an independent ethics agency that protects whistleblower federal employees. He has filed an emergency appeal to the country's highest court to rule on whether he can fire Hampton Dellinger, head of the US Office of Special Counsel. It is thought to be the first case related to Trump's blizzard of executive actions to reach the highest court. Trump has also cut more than a dozen inspectors general at various federal agencies and fired thousands of employees across the US government. Mr Dellinger, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, sued the Trump administration after he was fired by email this month. He argued that his removal broke a law that says he can only be dismissed for poor job performance and that was not given as a reason in the email dismissing him. The agency lists among its primary objectives the protection of federal employees from unlawful actions in reprisal to whistleblowing, according to its mission statement. A federal judge in Washington DC issued a temporary order on Wednesday allowing Mr Dellinger to hold on to his position while the case is being considered. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said the firing broke US law which tried to ensure the independence of the agency and protect it from political interference. On Saturday, a divided US Court of Appeals in the nation's capital rejected the Trump administration's request to overrule the lower court. What is Doge and why is Musk cutting so many jobs? Legal showdown looms as Trump tests limits of presidential power That has led to the justice department filing an emergency appeal to the conservative-dominated Supreme Court, a filing seen by various US media. "This court should not allow lower courts to seize executive power by dictating to the president how long he must continue employing an agency head against his will," Sarah M Harris, acting solicitor general, wrote in the filing provided by the Department of Justice to the Washington Post. "Until now, as far as we are aware, no court in American history has wielded an injunction to force the president to retain an agency head," the acting solicitor general wrote, according to the Associated Press news agency. The Republican president's orders on immigration, transgender issues and government spending have also become bogged down in dozens of lawsuits in the lower courts. Those cases may ultimately wind up at the Supreme Court, too. Trump's efforts to reduce and reshape the 2.3 million-strong civilian federal workforce continued over the weekend. Workers in various health agencies who are still within their probation periods received letters on Saturday evening informing them they would be terminated, sources told CBS News, the BBC's US partner. "Unfortunately, the agency finds that you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the agency's current needs, and your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment at the agency," read the letters. At least 9,500 workers at the departments of Health and Human Services, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Interior and Agriculture have been fired by Trump, according to a tally from Reuters news agency. Another 75,000 workers have taken a buyout offered to get them to leave voluntarily, according to the White House. The cost-cutting initiative has been led by department of government efficiency, or Doge, a task force led by Elon Musk. Democrats have decried Musk, the world's richest man, as unelected and his actions as too sweeping - a "hostile takeover" in the words of the party's Senate leader Chuck Schumer.
