Trump HUD official disciplined for violating federal law

Patton, appointed to supervise the New York and New Jersey area of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, had moved into public housing for a month in 2019 to attract consideration to the dwelling situations in New York City Housing Authority buildings. She leveraged relationships she had cultivated with residents to recruit contributors for a video explaining how their lifestyle had improved beneath the Trump administration, in line with the Office of Special Counsel. The video aired through the GOP conference.

“By using information and NYCHA connections available to her solely by virtue of her HUD position, Patton improperly harnessed the authority of her federal position to assist the Trump campaign in violation of the Hatch Act,” stated a press release launched by the Office of Special Counsel.

As a part of the settlement, Patton admitted to partaking in conduct that violated the law and agreed to a 48-month debarment from federal employment and to pay a $1,000 civil tremendous.

“No length of punishment will ever be able to outlast the permanent positive trajectory upon which NYCHA is now advancing thanks to the Trump Administration and my amazing HUD team,” Patton stated in a press release to The Washington Post. She stated she had acquired advance written permission from the HUD Office of General Counsel and “followed their directives to a ‘T.’”

Some of the contributors within the video told the New York Times in August that they felt tricked and have been by no means informed that their interviews could be used for political functions. Patton stated she by no means misled residents.

“The residents in the video have since admitted to CNN and other outlets that they were never tricked,” Patton stated. “Therefore, I sleep well at night knowing that over 500,000 low-income New Yorkers continue to benefit from our historic efforts and will never regret creating a video that highlighted the same.”

In 2019, the Office of Special Counsel decided that she had violated the law barring federal executive-branch workers from partaking in political actions utilizing their titles whereas on responsibility or in a federal constructing after a collection of Twitter “likes” between December 2017 and April 2018 from her official HUD account.

Among Patton’s illegally “hearted” tweets:

• President Donald Trump’s endorsement of now-Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
• The Republican National Committee chairwoman’s criticism of Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.)
• A GOP put up favoring Mike Pompeo’s affirmation as secretary of state.
• And Kanye West’s photograph of his autographed Trump marketing campaign hat.

The authorities watchdog on the time additionally stated Patton had unwittingly violated the law by posing in her HUD workplace for a photograph that accompanied an article in New York magazine. Appearing within the photograph on a bookshelf above Patton’s head was a pink USA hat that turned out to be an “official USA 45th presidential hat” offered on the Trump-Pence marketing campaign web site.

The particular counsel’s workplace didn’t pursue any disciplinary motion on the time however warned Patton that any additional prohibited political exercise may lead to self-discipline.

During her four-year tenure at HUD making $160,000 a 12 months, Patton made headlines for her publicity stunts. In addition to her non permanent move into New York public housing, there was her surprise cameo on the listening to of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

The investigation of Patton’s actions stemmed from a criticism by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Noah Bookbinder, president of CREW, stated in a press release Tuesday that “it is gratifying to see real consequences for outrageous misconduct.”

“Even in an administration marked by a callous disregard for ethics laws, Lynne Patton stood out,” Bookbinder stated. “What made her behavior particularly egregious was that she not only used her position for political purposes, she misled and exploited public housing residents for political gain, showing little regard for the people she was supposed to be helping and the ethics rules she was supposed to be following.”