Thread: Perez Used Government Account to Coordinate With Clinton Campaign

Perez Used Government Account to Coordinate With Clinton Campaign

Emails could violate Hatch Act

Hillary Clinton and Labor Secretary Thomas Perez / AP

BY: Bill McMorris
October 13, 2016 5:00 am

Labor Secretary Tom Perez potentially ran afoul of the law by coordinating with Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman using his official government email account during the workday, according to emails obtained by Wikileaks.

Perez exchanged emails with Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta on December 3, 2015, just hours before the campaign released his endorsement statement. Podesta emailed Perez asking him for his personal account at 10:25 a.m. Perez responded with his personal contact, adding “Can we catch up for a few minutes today?” The two agreed to a phone call at 11:45 a.m., according to the emails, which were hacked from Podesta’s account and posted on Wikileaks.

The U.S. intelligence community has formally accused the Russian government of carrying out the hacks in order to influence the presidential election.

The Hatch Act prohibits public officials from engaging in partisan or political activity on government time. The law is specifically directed at the use of government email addresses and resources.

“A federal employee cannot send or forward a partisan political email from either his government email account or his personal email account (even using a personal device) while at work,” an Office of Special Counsel advisory on the Hatch Act says.

The emails were sent less than an hour after Perez attended a meeting of the President’s Trade Council where he endorsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal that has been criticized by labor unions and both presidential candidates. He also posted a personal blog post on the Department of Labor’s website that day.

Perez and Podesta did not return requests for comment about whether or not Perez was on duty during the time.
Matthew Whitaker, executive director of the government transparency watchdog Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, said that the emails could indicate that Perez violated the Hatch Act. He noted that department heads and cabinet secretaries “don’t necessarily have strict office hours” compared to average federal employees.

“Its obviously indicative of a Hatch Act violation–it appears that he was engaging in political activities with government resources (email, phones, building),” Whitaker told the Washington Free Beacon in an email.

The House oversight committee revealed in 2013 that Perez used his personal email account to conduct government business in violation of federal record keeping laws. Perez admitted to 34 individual violations.

Perez left Washington, D.C., and joined Hillary Clinton in Iowa to address her supporters on December 4. Perez’s endorsement was seen as a major event when it was first announced because of his close ties to one of Clinton’s rivals, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. O’Malley appointed Perez to run the Maryland Department of Labor, his springboard to statewide and later national politics. Clinton later considered Perez as a potential vice presidential choice before picking Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine (D.).
http://freebeacon.com/politics/perez...nton-campaign/

Just more collusion.

perez - more of the globalist, big banks push to become the NAU and make all of a sudden hispanics in powerful positions. They by-passed affirmative action etc.

Wikileaks divulged emails of Citi Bank telling what hispanic to pick for positions in gov't. Have we been subjected to un-American activity top to bottom for the globalist agenda aka no USA in the future - YES!

Perez Dismissed Bernie Supporters as ‘Young White Liberals’

Labor Sec used personal account to advise Clinton campaign during business hours

Tom Perez / AP

BY: Bill McMorris
October 17, 2016 5:00 am

Labor Secretary Tom Perez engaged in partisan political activities with the Clinton campaign during business hours using his personal email account, which is not covered by federal records laws, according to emails released by Wikileaks.

Perez sent a lengthy email to Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta on Feb. 5 detailing his observations from the campaign trail. He had just returned from making campaign appearances in New Hampshire and Nevada in the run up to Clinton’s tough primary battle with socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.).

“I think people will be surprised at how she is able to close the gap. I like the ‘vote with your head and your heart’ line, and I like the comeback on the establishment stuff,” he said. “I think Nevada is the firewall on a number of levels, and the most important thing I want to communicate in this email is my strong belief that HRC should travel to Nevada asap after New Hampshire.”

He also offered advice on how Clinton could inspire support from younger voters. He dismissed Sanders’ strong poll numbers among younger voters as limited to “young white liberals” and said that she needed to use “more pathos, or more real stories behind her really sound policy proposals.”

“Nevada is an opportunity to fight back on so many levels. First, the current storyline is that she does not connect well with young voters,” Perez wrote. “When we do well there, then the narrative changes from Bernie kicks ass among young voters to Bernie does well only among young white liberals—that is a different story and a perfect lead in to South Carolina, where once again, we can work to attract young voters of color.”

Perez did not respond to request for comment.

Perez previously coordinated with Podesta using his government email account on the eve of his official endorsement and debut on the campaign trail, a potential violation of the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from using government resources for partisan activities.

Perez’s use of his personal account could also violate federal law if he was on the clock at the time. He appears to have conducted government business on Feb. 5, posting a personal blog on the Department of Labor website and tweeting from his official government account prior to emailing Podesta.

“A federal employee cannot send or forward a partisan political email from either his government email account or his personal email account (even using a personal device) while at work,” an Office of Special Counsel advisory on the Hatch Act says.

Perez provided Podesta with his personal email account during their initial Dec. 3 exchange and only communicated with the campaign chairman from the personal account after that. His use of his government account would subject him to federal record keeping, while emails sent from his personal account would not be susceptible to the Freedom of Information Act. Perez was criticized by Congress in 2013 for using his personal account to dodge FOIA.

The U.S. intelligence community has formally accused the Russian government of carrying out the hacks in order to influence the presidential election.
http://freebeacon.com/politics/perez...hite-liberals/

He had just returned from making campaign appearances in New Hampshire and Nevada in the run up to Clinton’s tough primary battle with socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.).

Who paid for his time? Did he bill the government? Who paid for his travel?