Ivanka Trump Violated Hatch Act Three Days After Kellyanne Conway's Recommended Firing: Watchdog

First daughter and senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump appears to have violated the Hatch Act just three days after the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) found repeated violations of the law by Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway and recommended that she be fired, according to a watchdog.

In a letter to the OSC Thursday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) flagged Trump's tweet from Father's Day Sunday, which featured a photo with her father's "Make America Great Again!" slogan and her comment, "Four years ago today, I introduced my father @realDonaldTrump when he launched a Campaign that would forever change America. Because of his courage, Americans are safer and more prosperous...and the best is yet to come!"

Three days prior on Thursday, the Office of Special Counsel in a letter to President Donald Trump recommended that Conway be removed from government service for being a "repeat offender" of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from using their official positions to influence the result of an election.

"OSC has already reprimanded half a dozen White House staffers for MAGA tweets, as it's advocating for the reelection of the president," CREW spokesman Jordan Libowitz told Newsweek on Thursday, adding of Ivanka Trump, "She knows it's against the law. But she did it anyway, even after the unprecedented Conway decision."

CREW argues that although Ivanka Trump states "Personal Pg" and "Views are my own" on her @IvankaTrump Twitter profile, the first daughter includes "Advisor to POTUS" and more than 80 percent of her tweets in the past six months have been related to official government work.

The watchdog notes that Ivanka Trump in April retweeted a post from Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel's @GOPChairwoman account that referenced the president's MAGA slogan. Ivanka Trump in May 2018 also retweeted a post with MAGA from GOP commentator Paris Dennard.

"There is no doubt that Ms. Trump's use of the @IvankaTrump Twitter account to post messages promoting the President's campaign slogan and to share messages from RNC Chairwoman McDaniel's Twitter account constitute political activity under the Hatch Act," CREW's letter to the OSC states.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Newsweek on Thursday.

Ivanka Trump upon entering the West Wing addressed questions on ethics by stating: "I have heard the concerns some have with my advising the president in my personal capacity while voluntarily complying with all ethics rules, and I will instead serve as an unpaid employee in the White House Office, subject to all of the same rules as other federal employees."

CREW executive director Noah Bookbinder stated Thursday that the watchdog group has never before witnesses "this level of illegal politicized behavior" from an administration.

"By blatantly using her office for politics right after the Office of Special Counsel recommended her colleague be fired for repeatedly acting similarly, Ivanka Trump has basically thumbed her nose at the OSC and the rule of law," Bookbinder stated.