Statement On The Hatch Act And Potential Violations

"Those living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," said Ferrell Blount, the NC GOP Chairman.

Mr. Blount is certainly correct. However, he ought to first look at his own glass house.

Something is rotten in the heart of the Republican Party. The NC Republican Party and its Co-PAM backers have made it clear which of the eight candidates for the NC Supreme Court that it supports in the race for the seat vacated by Justice Orr. Just visit their and their candidate's websites.

As I have documented at my own website, the party leadership has gone further than just an endorsement - they have defamed me, my employer and the educational institutions that I attended.

They have made telephone calls to other party leadership and members in which they have sought to cast aspersions on me. They even violated their own prohibitions about intermeddling in primaries to ensure that their candidate for the attorney general seat, who just happens to be related to the candidate for the Supreme Court seat, won. And today we have our newest revelation - that their candidate for the Supreme Court seat may be violating the Hatch Act, codified at 5 USC § 7321 et seq.

What is the hatch act?

It's a law that prohibits certain federal employees from engaging in certain political activities. Federal employees are permitted to run in non-partisan races. This is a non-partisan race. However, non-partisan races can be transformed into partisan races when a political party and a candidate engage in certain conduct.

It is my understanding that the matter is now under investigation by the proper federal officials. If the conduct here does not constitute a violation, all well and good. But if there is a violation, the candidate will have to do one of two things: (1) either give up the federal job; or (2) resign his candidacy.

It strikes me as odd that the candidate is supposed to be a federal prosecutor and yet questions are being raised at this late date about the candidate's ability to correctly follow federal law. Is this the type of person that you want to elect to our state's highest court?

The NC Republican Party won't tell you any of this. However, it once more displays the arrogance, stupidity and incompetence of the party leadership in putting all their eggs into one basket and backing a particular candidate. I suggested to them that it would not be wise to endorse a candidate. But they didn't listen. I told them to stop their attacks and other activities and say nothing. But they didn't listen.

Maybe they will listen when the federal government speaks. If not, I am sure that they listen to the voters.