U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., is urging the Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether Trump administration officials violated federal law by contacting state Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, about an Oval Office visit tied to the president’s redistricting push in Indiana.
Padilla sent a letter this week to Acting Special Counsel Jamieson Greer and White House Counsel David Warrington, to “bring attention to new potential violations” of the Hatch Act by Trump administration officials in connection with mid-decade redistricting efforts, stating that “the situation in Indiana is urgent.”
Padilla and three other senators had initially requested an investigation into alleged Hatch Act violations by Trump administration officials in July.
The Hatch Act bars federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity while on duty, including using their authority to interfere with or influence an election, among other things.
The Office of Special Counsel is a federal watchdog agency that works to protect government employees and whistleblowers from retaliation for reporting wrongdoing. It is responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act.
“The situation has escalated to such a level that the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of White House Counsel must take immediate action to ensure that senior Trump administration officials cease this apparently illegal behavior,” Padilla states in the letter. “…Your offices have a duty to act, not only to ensure that administration officials follow the law, but to protect these public servants across the country from bearing the brunt of this apparently illegal activity in the current heightened political threat environment.”
The letter does not mention Walker by name, instead referring to him as a state senator from Indiana and quoting comments he made to The Republic last month.
In late November, Walker told The Republic that he had turned down an invitation to visit the Oval Office and accused the White House of violating the Hatch Act.
Walker, who has been an outspoken critic of early redistricting, said he was contacted by a White House official on Nov. 17 and was invited to visit President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Nov. 19, the same day he would end up becoming the target of a swatting incident.
Swatting involves making false reports of criminal incidents in an attempt to create a dangerous SWAT response to the residence.
“I refused (the invitation), but the underling who reached out to me is trying to influence the election on my dime,” Walker said. “That individual works for me. He works for you. He’s on my payroll, he’s on your payroll, and he’s campaigning on company time. That’s a violation of the Hatch Act. He’s a federal employee. He works in the White House. But does anyone care about the rules anymore? Not that I can tell.”
Walker told The Republic last month that he would have reported the alleged violation to federal authorities “if I thought that there was anyone of integrity in Washington that would follow through on my accusation and actually cause someone to lose their job over it.”
The state senator said “(early redistricting) is ultimately a political discussion,” which could run afoul of the Hatch Act.
“How does (Trump) have the time to mess a nobody like me with all of the important matters that are to take his attention as the leader of the executive branch in this nation?” Walker said. “There is no way that he should have time to have a conversation with me about Indiana mapmaking when that’s not his business for starters. But secondly, doesn’t he have anything better to do? I can make a big list of things that are more important for him to focus on.”
“It’s the president trying to save his own skin by holding a majority in Congress,” Walker also said. “It’s so that he’s not impeached again. That’s all this is about.”
Walker’s comments drew national attention, appearing in The New York Times, Politico and other news outlets.
The OSC confirmed to The Republic it had received the letter and was reviewing it.
Currently, it is unclear whether the OSC will investigate the alleged Hatch Act violations.
Shortly after taking office, Trump removed Hampton Dellinger as head of the Office of Special Counsel. In May, he nominated Paul Ingrassia, a former right-wing podcast host, to lead the agency.
Ingrassia has praised the criminally charged influencer Andrew Tate and promoted false claims that the 2020 election was rigged, according to The Associated Press. However, Ingrassia withdrew from consideration in October after his offensive text messages were made public by Politico and GOP senators revolted.
Politico had reported on a text chat that showed Ingrassia saying the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell.” Ingrassia also described himself in the text chat as having “a Nazi streak” at times.
After the texts came to light, several Republican senators said they would not support his nomination, according to wire reports. They included some of the most conservative and stalwart Trump allies in the Senate.
