Peter Navarro, the director of President Trump’s Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, broke federal law repeatedly during the presidential campaign by accusing Joseph R. Biden Jr. of “kowtowing to the Chinese” and claiming that electing Mr. Biden would devastate the economy, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel ruled on Monday.
The special counsel said Mr. Navarro’s statements in television interviews and on Twitter had violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal executive branch employees from trying to influence elections while acting in their official capacity. Five of the violations occurred after the special counsel informed Mr. Navarro in June that it was investigating Hatch Act allegations against him.
Mr. Navarro, one of Mr. Trump’s most combative advisers, deleted his Twitter account four days after the special counsel’s office asked the Office of the White House Counsel about the account and its contents, the special counsel said in a report posted publicly on Monday. The report referred Mr. Navarro to Mr. Trump for disciplinary action.
From May to October, Mr. Navarro attacked Mr. Biden and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, in at least six media interviews while appearing in his official capacity, the report concluded. Many of those attacks alleged that Mr. Biden would be soft on China. Mr. Navarro referred to Mr. Biden as “Beijing Biden” and said he was susceptible to being “bought” by the Chinese.
He frequently attacked Mr. Biden in a Twitter account that he had also used for official White House purposes. In September, Mr. Navarro wrote that “Joe Biden tore the heart out of the heartland by voting for NAFTA and China into the WTO,” a reference to the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization.
The report said the violations “were knowing and willful” after Mr. Navarro received training on the Hatch Act and a letter of investigation from the special counsel’s office, which was prompted by a complaint from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
His “attempt to influence voters in the 2020 presidential election, while speaking as a representative of their government, is just what the Hatch Act is intended to prevent,” the report said.
Mr. Navarro did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment.
The executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Noah Bookbinder, cheered the report in a news release. “In an administration full of people illegally using their government positions to influence an election, Navarro has been one of the worst,” he said.
Mr. Navarro joins a growing…
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