Credit where is due.

The Trump administration is expanding law breaking to more laws more aggressively than any administration in the history of the United States.

First, we had the Emoluments Clause, which had languished ignored in the Constitution for aver 200 years, and now we have the Office of Special Counsel saying that Kellyanne Conway should be fired for violating the Hatch Act. (Also called, “An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities.”)

I was aware of the act only because I worked a campaign with a federal employee who had to avoid public statements and the like because of the law.

It’s never really been something that you expect to see applied to senior White House officials, because no one has been quite so blatant about partisan politicking while acting in their official capacity before:

The Office of Special Counsel on Thursday recommended the removal of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway from federal office for violating the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from engaging in political activity in the course of their work.

The report submitted to President Trump found that Conway violated the Hatch Act on numerous occasions by “disparaging Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in her official capacity during television interviews and on social media.” The agency described her as a “repeat offender.”

The decision about whether to remove Conway is up to Trump. A senior White House official said Thursday the president is unlikely to punish Conway and instead will defend her. The White House counsel immediately issued a letter calling for the agency to withdraw its recommendation that Conway be removed — a request the Office of Special Counsel declined.

In an interview, Special Counsel Henry Kerner called his recommendation that a political appointee of Conway’s stature be fired “unprecedented.”

“You know what else is unprecedented?” said Kerner, a Trump appointee who has run the agency since December 2017. “Kellyanne Conway’s behavior.”

………

Jacobson said he could not recall a previous episode in which the agency recommended such drastic action against a White House appointee.

“How unique is this? I am not aware of any other time, to my mind, ever, where the Office of Special Counsel has recommended the removal of a White House presidential appointee,” Jacobson said.

………

The reprimands of Conway are among a series of Hatch Act violations by Trump administration officials.

In late 2018, the Office of Special Counsel found six White House officials in violation of the law for using their official Twitter accounts to send or display political messages supporting Trump.

Others sanctioned by the Office of Special Counsel for political messages include former interior secretary Ryan Zinke; Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s spokeswoman; Dan Scavino, former White House social media director; and Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

I’m wondering when they will expand their nefarious activities to things like publishing fake weather reports (18 U.S.C. Section 2074), harassing a golfer on public land (18 USC Section 1865), drunk skydiving (49 U.S.C. Section 46316), and hunting doves with automatic weapons (16 USC Section 707).