Donald Trump’s top trade adviser violates political activity laws in comments over Joe Biden’s approach to China, investigators say
- Navarro used ‘official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the result of the 2020 presidential election’, report says
- The trade adviser frequently claimed Biden was ‘compromised’ and could be ‘bought’ by the Chinese government, the report adds
Navarro, who heads the White House office for trade and manufacturing policy, violated the Hatch Act “by using his official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the result of the 2020 presidential election,” according to a report compiled by the special counsel and sent to the White House on Monday.
Under the Hatch Act, government officials, excluding the president and vice-president, may not use their official position to advocate for or denigrate any particular political party or candidate.
Despite those laws, Navarro used at least six media interviews since May this year to attack Biden, frequently claiming that the Democratic candidate (now president-elect) was “compromised” and could be “bought” by the Chinese government, the report said.
Navarro took the same rhetoric to his official Twitter account, where he called the former vice-president “Beijing Biden” and said he was “soft” on China, according to the report.