House panel delays Kellyanne Conway contempt vote amid White House talks
Kellyanne Conway says she is concerned about politicization, weaponization of the Hatch Act
Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, discusses defying a congressional subpoena and the Hatch Act on 'Hannity.'
The House Oversight Committee announced Wednesday that it had postponed a vote on whether to recommend that White House counselor Kellyanne Conway be held in contempt of Congress, as talks continued with the Trump administration.
“I am postponing the Committee’s vote as I work with the White House to try to reach an accommodation,” panel Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said in a statement. “Ms. Conway violated the law numerous times and must be held accountable.”
KELLYANNE CONWAY DEFIES HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE SUBPOENA OVER ALLEGED HATCH ACT VIOLATIONS
The vote was supposed to take place Thursday and recommend that the House find Conway to be in contempt of Congress “for her refusal to comply with a subpoena duly issued” by the committee, The Washington Post reported.
The move stems from Conway’s failure to appear July 15 to testify after a government watchdog found that she violated the Hatch Act, a law banning federal government employees from engaging in certain political activities, despite the committee’s subpoena.
The Office of the Special Counsel, which is separate from the office with a similar name previously run by Robert Mueller, said in a scathing report in June that Conway violated the Hatch Act by “disparaging Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in her official capacity during television interviews and on social media,” and recommended she be fired.
KELLYANNE CONWAY SAYS CRITICS EMPLOY HATCH ACT TO 'SILENCE' HER SUPPORT FOR TRUMP
A White House attorney sent a letter to Cummings advising him that Conway won’t appear before the panel, prompting calls to hold her in contempt of Congress.
Conway told Fox News that she was “taking one for the team” and insisted that as a presidential adviser she shouldn’t be forced to testify.
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“I’d be happy to testify. I have nothing to hide. I’ve done nothing wrong,” Conway added. “I would love to go testify, but I’m taking one for the team here because there’s a longstanding tradition to claim immunity and not have people like me testify.”