RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman defended the phone-jammers’ calls to the White House as just plain politics as usual: “…during the 2002 election cycle, my staff and I regularly communicated with competitive Congressional campaigns and Republican Party organizations…Alicia Davis, my deputy responsible for the Northeast, frequently communicated with the New Hampshire State Party, the RNC and others.“
The only problem with that “defense” is that letting US taxpayers foot the bill as White House staffers work for the Republican party comprehensively violates the Hatch Act–for example,
…a District of Columbia employee may not perform partisan campaign duties during the course of the employees normal business day if the employee is: (1) on duty; (2) in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by an individual employed or holding office in the Government of the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof; or (3) wearing an official uniform or insignia.
…an employee may not write campaign speeches, make political calls, or send political emails on behalf of a partisan candidate or political party while the employee is in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by an individual employed or holding office in the Government of the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof, even if he is not on duty for purposes of the Hatch Act.
The NH Democrats have filed a civil suit asking the GOP to reimburse them for the cost of their GOTV efforts in 2002. I’d like to see something else added to the lawsuit–for the RNC to reimuburse US taxpayers for the campaign activities Ken Mehlman brazenly admits were carried out from within the White House itself.