The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) wrote to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray last month to inform him that he had been cleared of any possible violations of the Hatch Act.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), among others, raised the issue as speculation circulated in August about the possibility that Cordray would announce a run in the Ohio governor’s race at Labor Day events.
The letter from OSC explained that it found “no evidence” that Cordray violated the Hatch Act.
The Hatch Act prohibits federal executive branch employees from running for the nomination, or as a candidate for election to, a partisan political office.
The Hatch Act’s prohibition against candidacy “extends not merely to the formal announcement of candidacy but also to the preliminaries leading to such announcement and to canvassing or soliciting support or doing or permitting to be done any act in furtherance of candidacy,” OSC wrote in the letter to Cordray.
Among the examples of preliminary activities directed toward candidacy that would be violations of the Hatch Act, OSC listed:
- Taking the action necessary under the law of a state to qualify for nomination for election;
- Soliciting or receiving contributions or making expenditures;
- Giving consent to or acquiescing in such activity by others on the employee’s behalf;
- Meeting with individuals to plan the logistics and strategy of a campaign;
- Circulating nominating petitions; or holding a press conference concerning one’s candidacy.
However, OSC wrote, merely discussing with family or close friends the possibility of running; fact-finding to learn what would be required to run; or making inquiries to understand the current political landscape would not violate the candidacy prohibition of the Hatch Act.
“The complaints OSC received alleged that you violated the Hatch Act by engaging in preliminary activities regarding a candidacy for governor of Ohio. OSC’s investigation, however, found no evidence that you have engaged in any of the types of preliminary activities directed toward candidacy that would violate the Hatch Act,” the letter stated. “Accordingly, we are closing our file without further action.”