Pascrell Demands Probe of Trump Use of White House for Campaign War Room

Election night letter addresses latest Hatch Act violation

PATERSON, NJ – Reacting to news reports that the Trump campaign was using the White House and Old Executive Office Building as a campaign command center and election day war room, last night U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) sent an urgent plea to United States Special Counsel Henry Kerner, demanding a federal probe of the latest Hatch Act violation by the Trump regime.

“I write urgently demanding an explanation of whether Donald Trump and members of the executive branch are breaking the law on Election Day. Reports suggest that Donald Trump is using space inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building as a campaign “war room.” Additionally, Mr. Trump is expected to be briefed in the White House residence and the Oval Office throughout the day by campaign officials. These actions put executive branch officials at risk of blatant violations of the law, including the Hatch Act,” Pascrell wrote.

Pascrell asked the Special Counsel to investigate, among other things, who installed Trump campaign WiFi at the White House, and why a planned election night party in the Executive Mansion wouldn’t violate the Hatch Act.

The text of Rep. Pascrell’s letter is provided below.

November 3, 2020

Henry Kerner

Special Counsel

1730 M Street, NW

Washington, D.C.

United States Office of Special Counsel

Dear Special Counsel Kerner:

I write urgently demanding an explanation of whether Donald Trump and members of the executive branch are breaking the law on Election Day. Reports suggest that Donald Trump is using space inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building as a campaign “war room.” Additionally, Mr. Trump is expected to be briefed in the White House residence and the Oval Office throughout the day by campaign officials. These actions put executive branch officials at risk of blatant violations of the law, including the Hatch Act.

Trump campaign officials have claimed that “Every piece of equipment, including WiFi and computers, was paid for by the campaign, and no White House staff is involved. The arrangement has been approved by White House counsel.”^[i] However, it is your office that is responsible for investigating and prosecuting Hatch Act violations. I request answers to the questions below by Friday, November 6, 2020 regarding these reports.

• Please explain how Donald Trump’s actions on November 3, 2020 do not violate the Hatch Act, including if Trump put executive branch officials at risk of violating the law.
• Please detail if your office was consulted on the decision to use space inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building as a campaign “war room.”
• Does providing the President campaign updates in the Oval Office, residence, any part of the White House or any executive office building violate the Hatch Act? If not, please explain.
• How did Donald Trump’s campaign install its own technological equipment, including WiFi and computers, in the White House? What officials were consulted to ensure there was no risk to national security?
• Please name every individual that was involved in reviewing and approving the decisions by the Trump Campaign to turn the White House into a campaign headquarters.

I take potential violations of the Hatch Act very seriously and expect that your office will not ignore blatant violations of the law happening on Election Day. I look forward to working with you to better understand why Donald Trump is being allowed to abuse taxpayer resources.

We need an administration that understands that our nation’s laws matter and refrains from abusing those laws. I hope you and everyone registered to vote participated in today’s election.

Sincerely,

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[i]  https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1323712800787730432