Political social media accounts controlled by government employee Ethan Wolf were active during federal workdays
Washington, D.C. --- Dec. 11, 2024 --- Today, the non-partisan ethics watchdog, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed a complaint urging the Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether government employee Ethan Wolf violated the Hatch Act by running the political X account "Kamala’s Wins" while on duty as a federal government employee.
In September 2023, the Biden Administration appointed Wolf to a “communications specialist” position in the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, making Wolf a government employee required to abide by the Hatch Act. The Kamala's Wins account continued to be active at all times of the day and posted blatant political content during the government workday. Similarly, also during the workday, Wolf appears to have posted political content on his personal X account.
The Hatch Act protects the public trust by ensuring federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan manner and protects taxpayer funds from being used for political purposes. As a government employee, Ethan Wolf is covered by the Hatch Act, under which employees are generally prohibited from using their position or government resources for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election. An employee violates this prohibition, for example, by engaging in political activity while on duty or in a government office or building. Specifically, advisory opinions have made it clear that making social media posts or sending emails that support a candidate for President of the United States violates the Hatch Act if done while on duty, acting in an official capacity, in a government building, or with government resources.
"An executive branch employee is clearly covered by the Hatch Act and they are strictly prohibited from making political social media posts during work hours or while in government buildings. The behavior prohibited would also extend to performing other work for political social media accounts, such as monitoring the accounts, responding to messages, and creating political posts. Nevertheless, in this case, political accounts reportedly controlled by Wolf, including the Kamala’s Wins account and several other accounts under the Democratic Wins Media umbrella, were actively posting political content during federal government workdays. This is a case where the Office of Special Counsel must investigate and determine whether Wolf's involvement with these accounts violated the Hatch Act." said Kendra Arnold, Executive Director of FACT.
A full copy of the complaint can be found HERE.
FACT is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting accountability, ethics, and transparency in government and civic arenas. For more on FACT, visit http://www.factdc.org/
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