U.S. OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL 1730 Street, N.W., Suite 218 Washington, DC. 20036-4505 202-804-7000 September 28, 2017 Mr. Noah Bookbinder Executive Director . Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington 455 MasSachusetts Avenue, N.W., 6th Floor Washington, DC 20001 Re: OSC File Dear Mr. Bookbinder: This letter is in response to the complaint you ?led with the US. Of?ce of Special Counsel (OSC) alleging that Ambassador Nikki Haley violated the Hatch Act when she retweeted a political message from President Donald Trump via her @nikkihaley Twitter account. The June 19, 2017 tweet endorsed then-congressional candidate Ralph Norman. For the reasons explained below, OSC has concluded that Ambassador Haley violated the Hatch Act. In response, we issued her a warning letter. The Hatch Act restricts certain political activities of federal executive branch employees, except for the President and the Vice President. 5 U.S.C. 7321-7326. ACcordingly, as Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador Haley is covered by the Hatch Act and prohibited from, among other things, using her of?cial authority or in?uence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election. 5 U.S.C. 7323(a)(1). For example, under this provision, she may not use her of?cial title while engaging in political activity or her of?cial position to advance or oppose candidates for partisan of?ce. Political activity'is de?ned as activity directed toward the success or failure of a political party, candidate for a partisan political of?ce, or partisan political group. 5 C.F.R. 734.101. investigation con?rmed that on June 19, Ambassador Haley retweeted the following tweet from President Trump, ?Ralph Norman, who is running for Congress in 5th District, will be a fantastic help to me in cutting taxes, and . . . We learned that @nikkihaley is Ambassador Haley?s personal Twitter account, which she used before she was Ambassador to the United Nations, and she does not have any other Twitter accounts. At the time of the retweet - at issue, her Twitter pro?le picture was an of?cial government headshot with the American flag diSplayed behind her, and her Twitter header picture was a photograph of Ambassador Haley with President Trump and other members of the United Nations Security Council in a room at the White House. Her pro?le information listed her as ?United States Ambassador to the United Nations,? and many of her posts andphotographs were about and of of?cial matters.1 In 1 Not all of the content on her Twitter account was of?cial at that time. There were personal posts and photographs as well. US. Office of Special Counsel Page 2 addition, the homepage of the of?cial website for the United States Mission to the United Nations included a link to the @nikkihaley account. As stated above, the Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from using their of?cial position to advance or oppose candidates for partisan of?ce. Here, because Ambassador Haley?s personal Twitter account included so much indicia of her of?cial role as Ambassador and was even linked to the United States Mission to the United Nations website, it gave the impression that she was acting in her of?cial capacity when she used this account to retweet President Trump?s message. And retweeting that message, which endorsed a candidate in a congressional election, constituted political activity 'under the Hatch Act. Thus, OSC has concluded that Ambassador Haley violated the Hatch Act when she retweeted President Trump?s June 19 message about Ralph Norman on an account that repeatedly invoked her of?cial position as Ambassador to the United Nations.- Once Ambassador Haley became aware that her retweet may have violated the Hatch Act, she deleted the post. And OSC has found no evidence that she engaged in any additional prohibited political activity via Twitter. Thus, although we have concluded that Ambassador Haley violated the Hatch Act, we have decided not to pursue disciplinary action and are closing the above?referenced ?le without further action. I OSC has provided Ambassador Haley with advice on how to avoid additional violations of the Hatch Act with her Twitter account in its current form. And OSC has advised Ambassador Haley that if in the future she engages in ?prohibited political activity while employed in a position covered by the Hatch Act, we will consider such activity to be a willful and knowing violation of the law, which could result in further action pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 1215. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please call me at (202) 804?7054. Sincerely, Erica S. Hamrick Deputy Chief Hatch Act Unit