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Former Trump housing official sanctioned over campaign video
April 6, 2021
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NEW YORK (AP) A former federal official admitted she abused her authority in a publicity stunt that tricked New York City public housing residents into sounding supportive of former President Donald Trump, ethics oversight officials said Tuesday.
The admission by Lynne Patton came as part of a civil settlement with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel that bars Patton from holding a federal job for four years and imposes a $1,000 fine.
Patton “improperly harnessed the authority of her federal position to assist the Trump campaign in violation of the Hatch Act,” said a statement released by the special counsel office.
The release of President Joe Biden’s $2.3 billion infrastructure plan raises the question: is
everything infrastructure now? Some $400 billion a quarter of the entire package goes toward “aging care.” That’s infrastructure, apparently. Fifty billion dollars in manufacturing subsidies? Infrastructure. Twenty-five billion for child care? Infrastructure. The only part that isn’t infrastructure is trillions of dollars in new taxes.
By comparison, just 6 percent of the American Jobs Plan package goes toward roads and bridges, or $115 billion for what old-fashioned people might think of as infrastructure. Nearly as much money goes toward K-12 schools, which are still sitting on $180 billion in unused stimulus funds. While there’s $5 billion to help clean up Superfund and brownfield sites a laudable goal twice as much goes toward creating Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s unionized Civilian Climate Corps.
Former Trump HUD official disciplined for violating Hatch Act
What is the Hatch Act?
Replay Video UP NEXT A former political appointee under the Trump administration has been disciplined for improperly using her official position in the Department of Housing and Urban Development to support former President Donald Trump s reelection campaign, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel announced Tuesday. Lynne Patton, who served as a regional administrator for HUD, was fined $1,000 and barred from federal employment for four years after admitting to violating the Hatch Act, a federal law that limits partisan activity by federal employees to ensure the government functions fairly.
Former Trump HUD official fined and barred from federal work over Hatch Act violation
A former Housing and Urban Development official and Trump family associate has been fined and barred from federal work for violating the Hatch Act‘s prohibition of use of official authority after she blurred the lines between official business and politics by producing a video for the 2020 Republican convention.
The US Office of Special Counsel announced Tuesday that Lynne Patton had “improperly harnessed the authority of her federal position to assist the Trump campaign in violation of the Hatch Act” when she was HUD regional administrator and that she had admitted to violating the act when she produced a video about housing conditions for the Republican National Convention. In the settlement agreement, Patton will receive a $1,000 civil fine and is prevented from working as a federal employee for 48 months.