Biden’s press secretary says she’s “learned her lesson” after being accused of violating the Hatch Act. Jen Psaki received an ethics complaint after she weighed in on the Virginia gubernatorial race.
Fox News reports:
“I’ve learned my lesson,” Psaki responded. “I’m not going to do politics from here or political analysis. I can confirm that the president is going to Arlington later this evening and that that is my hometown as well. And, of course, the vice president [is campaigning there] as well.
Psaki promised earlier this month to choose her words more carefully after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint accusing her of violating the Hatch Act, which forbids officials from using their “official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.”
In the comments CREW took issue with, Psaki responded to a question about the Virginia race by saying, “Look, I think the president, of course, wants former Governor McAuliffe to be the future governor of Virginia,” and that, “We’re going to do everything we can to help former Governor McAuliffe, and we believe in the agenda he’s representing.”
In response to the complaint, Psaki previously told Fox News, “While the president has publicly expressed his support for McAuliffe, we’ll leave it to the press and the campaign to provide commentary on the race. I take ethics very seriously and will choose my words more carefully moving forward.”
So far, Democrat candidate Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin are neck-in-neck in polls, a major concern for Democrats.