On top of unsurprising lies from Republicans and Trump officials on the second night of the Republican National Convention, a handful of government employees violate federal ethics law.
The Hatch Act of 1939 bans federal employees from using their position or authority to promote a partisan political group or political campaign. The ethics law also bans use of government property for these purposes.
On night two of the RNC, Melania Trump uses the White House for her RNC speech. Donald Trump uses the White House for multiple promotional videos used during the RNC. The Department of Homeland Security’s Chad Wolf uses his position, his authority, and the White House for a naturalization ceremony for new citizens. The ceremony also includes uniformed Marines. Trump also uses the White House and his position as president to pardon someone for a RNC video.
Possibly the largest violation comes from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The RNC includes a video of Pompeo praising Trump in a speech from Jerusalem, where he is on an official State Department trip paid for by American taxpayers. The decision is so controversial that even Fox News criticizes the disregard for U.S. law.
Secretaries of state have never participated in political speeches. In fact, it’s the regulation of the State Department that nobody that’s in the State Department can attend a political event let alone participate in it. The State Dept. said “well, he’s operating in his personal capacity,” but I don’t know what personal capacity a secretary of state has… All of this has never happened before, and it’s worth noting.
Chris Wallace, Fox News
The night, like the night before, is also burdened with dozens of lies and fear mongering.
Example 1: Pompeo repeats a Trump administration claim that the president moved the capital of Israel to Jerusalem. He didn’t.
Example 2: Pam Bondi lies about her own political history, saying “As a career prosecutor and former Attorney General of Florida, I fought corruption, and I know what it looks like whether it’s done by people wearing pinstripe suits or orange jumpsuits.”
Bondi herself is a corrupt official. She even accepted a bribe from Trump to drop an investigation against him.
Example 3: Bondi also suggests that a Biden presidency would be unsafe because he has a history of nepotism. Trump’s first son, second son, first daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and first son’s girlfriend all work within his administration and/or campaign.
Example 4: Eric Trump claims that his father achieved peace in the Middle East and ended “never-ending wars.” Neither of those things have happened, plain and simple. There is a “peace deal” made by the administration, but the deal didn’t actually accomplish anything besides some publicity, and it’s the work of Jared Kushner (not Donald Trump).
Example 5: Eric Trump says Joe Biden is increasing taxes on all Americans to $4 trillion. Biden’s plan calls for $4 trillion in taxes over 10 years. Half will come from businesses, and the other half will come from households making more than $400,000 a year. Most Americans will not see an increase in taxes.
Example 6: Eric Trump warns that Joe Biden will defund the police and remove Second Amendment rights. This is completely inaccurate. Joe Biden has called for more police funding and is a gun owner himself.
Example 7: Eric Trump claims that his father passed the largest tax cut in American history. It actually comes in seventh, possibly lower, in a list of the country’s largest tax cuts.
The president has made this claim dozens of times and it remains false. The $1.5 trillion tax cut, enacted in December 2017, ranks below at least half a dozen others by several metrics. The 1981 Reagan tax cut is the largest as a percentage of the economy and by its reduction to federal revenue. The 2012 Obama cut amounted to the largest cut in inflation-adjusted dollars: $321 billion a year.
Linda Qui, The New York Times
Example 8: Trump’s economic adviser Larry Kudlow paints the picture that the COVID-19 pandemic is over. It isn’t. Coronavirus killed 1,291 Americans the same day as Kudlow’s speech.
Example 9: Larry Kudlow also thanks Donald Trump for a swift, effective plan that helped protect the country. The Trump administration did have a thorough plan, but they threw it out in April.
These don’t account for even half the lies told on the second night of the RNC.
Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=somwcReR4gY
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/08/25/us/rnc-fact-check
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u8EmiGZM94
https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/ethics/hatch-act-political-activity-and-federal-employee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKoEsJfH-l8
Photo: Public Domain
