Rachael Rollins committed ‘an extraordinary abuse of her power,’ US Office of Special Counsel wrote to Biden
U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins “committed an extraordinary abuse of her power” when she violated the Hatch Act, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel wrote to President Biden on Wednesday, as the agency called the violations “among the most egregious transgressions of the Act that OSC has ever investigated.”
OSC, an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency, ruled that Rollins should be disciplined for her repeated abuse of her official authority as U.S. Attorney for political purposes in violation of the Hatch Act.
However, because Rollins announced that she will be resigning later this week, she will get off scot-free without any discipline from the feds.
The OSC on Wednesday sent a report to Biden, detailing how Rollins willfully violated the Hatch Act on multiple occasions.
“The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has found that U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Rachael Rollins, violated the Hatch Act and, in doing so, committed an extraordinary abuse of her power as U.S. Attorney,” OSC wrote to Biden.
Her first violation happened last July in Andover, when Rollins attended a Democratic National Committee fundraiser with First Lady Jill Biden. The Herald was the first to report her attendance at the fundraiser.
“… In disregard of legal advice from her own agency, and in violation of the Hatch Act, she attended a political party fundraiser in her official capacity,” OSC wrote.
Then her second violation took place in August and September, when she tried to sabotage the campaign of Suffolk district attorney candidate Kevin Hayden by leaking DOJ information to the media to plant a story that he was facing a DOJ investigation.
“This latter violation, in particular, is one of the most egregious Hatch Act violations that OSC has investigated,” OSC wrote.
Rollins’ violations are “among the most egregious transgressions of the Act that OSC has ever investigated,” the agency added.
OSC determined that the violations should lead to disciplinary action.
“The leak was an extraordinary breach of public trust by a senior government official, which threatens to erode confidence in the integrity of federal law enforcement actions,” OSC wrote.
“And her decision to attend a political party fundraiser in her official capacity as U.S. Attorney is directly contrary to one of the central purposes of the Hatch Act — to avoid even the appearance that the federal government is being used to promote a political party or its candidates,” the agency added.
Rollins was provided a copy of the report on April 25, giving her an opportunity to comment.
Then on Tuesday, OSC informed Rollins that the report would be released publicly on Wednesday. Shortly thereafter, it was reported that Rollins intended to resign by the end of this week.
“Even if Ms. Rollins resigns, which would foreclose the possibility of any disciplinary action, I hope that this report provides an opportunity for you to emphasize to all federal employees the importance of serving the public in a professional and nonpartisan manner,” OSC wrote to Biden. “The American people deserve nothing less.”
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/gIAY5zb
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