A Biden-Harris administration official violated a longstanding federal ethics law by drumming up viral internet support for Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign on X while working on the taxpayer's dime, a watchdog group alleged in a complaint filed Wednesday.
Democratic activist Ethan Wolf in January 2022 launched the X account "Biden's Wins," which he rebranded as "Kamala's Wins" when President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid in July and then as "Democratic Wins" after Harris lost the presidential election in November. The viral misinformation Wolf posted in support of the Biden and Harris campaigns turned him into a rising star of the online left and—according to Politico—made him a "favorite of White House staffers." Wolf's efforts earned him a private meeting with Biden and Harris in September 2022 and later, in September 2023, a full-time job at the Commerce Department as a "communications specialist."
Wolf's day job at the Commerce Department should have affected the posting schedule on his viral X account because of the Hatch Act, which prohibits government employees from making political social media posts during work hours or while in government buildings. But it didn't. Wolf's account "continued to be active at all times of the day and posted blatant political content during the government workday," the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) watchdog group said in its complaint to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
Political content posted on Wolf's account during the government workday include a post on the afternoon of September 17, seen by nearly three million X users, that promoted singer Billie Eilish's endorsement of Harris and urged young Americans to "turn out to vote for Kamala."
BREAKING: In a stunning announcement, Billie Eilish just endorsed Kamala Harris. Retweet so all young Americans see this and turn out to vote for Kamala! pic.twitter.com/C4OOExvyz6
— Democratic Wins Media (@DemocraticWins) September 17, 2024
Wolf's account also posted several pieces of viral disinformation in the leadup to the November elections, garnering fact checks from CNN and PolitiFact. In July, the account falsely claimed that NFL quarterback Joe Burrow attended a "White Dudes for Harris" online fundraising call, CNN reported. Later, in August, "Kamala's Wins" issued a viral X post falsely claiming then-vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance "couldn't fill a small room" at a campaign event in Michigan. PolitiFact determined the post was false, noting that other photos showed hundreds of attendees at the same event.
FACT executive director Kendra Arnold said if Wolf had any involvement in posts like that, it would be a straightforward violation of the Hatch Act.
"An executive branch employee is clearly covered by the Hatch Act and they are strictly prohibited from making political social media posts during work hours or while in government buildings," Arnold told the Washington Free Beacon. "The behavior prohibited would also extend to performing other work for political social media accounts, such as monitoring the accounts, responding to messages, and creating political posts. Nevertheless, in this case, political accounts reportedly controlled by Wolf, including the Kamala's Wins account and several other accounts under the Democratic Wins Media umbrella, were actively posting political content during federal government workdays."
"This is a case where the Office of Special Counsel must investigate and determine whether Wolf's involvement with these accounts violated the Hatch Act," Arnold said.
According to the complaint, Wolf has stated since securing his job at the Commerce Department that he is no longer the sole manager of his viral X account. But Wolf has not provided any details about who else could be making posts from his account during the government workday. Wolf reported earning $6,650 from his company, Democratic Wins Media LLC, in his public financial disclosure report.
Wolf did not return a request for comment.
The White House said in December 2023 that it takes the Hatch Act seriously, but several senior Biden administration officials have been found to have violated the 1939 ethics law since Biden took office in 2021.
The Office of Special Counsel found that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre violated the longstanding federal ethics law twice since assuming her post in May 2022. Her first came in the leadup to the 2022 midterm elections, when she used the phrase "MAGA" in violation of the act. The second came a year later, in June 2023, when she again issued official statements denouncing "MAGA Republicans" after incorrectly saying that White House officials had given her the sign-off to use the phrase.
The Office of Special Counsel also found that Jean-Pierre's deputy, Andrew Bates, violated the Hatch Act for his use of "MAGA" in official communications in June 2023.
Other senior Biden administration officials found to have violated the Hatch Act include former press secretary Jen Psaki, former chief of staff Ron Klain, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.