White House Official Urges Michigan Voters to Defeat Amash
WH senior advisor may have violated federal law by calling for primary defeat of frequent Trump critic U.S. Rep. Amash.
The White House is defending a top Trump Administration official who tweeted that a Michigan Congressman should be defeated in the state’s next Republican primary election.
.@realDonaldTrump is bringing auto plants & jobs back to Michigan. @justinamash is a big liability.#TrumpTrain, defeat him in primary.
— Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) April 1, 2017
Some experts say the tweet could be considered a violation of federal law.
The social media director for the White House, Dan Scavino, tweeted that U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) is a “big liability” to bringing jobs back to Michigan.
Scavino added, “Defeat him in primary.”
Amash is a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus that helped stop the GOP’s recent attempt to repeal Obamacare.
Some ethics attorneys charge Scavino may have violated federal prohibitions against using an official position to influence an election.
The White House counters that Scavino clearly used his personal Twitter account to tweet the comments, not an official one.
Others note that after the tweet about Amash the cover photo on the account was changed to remove a picture that included the presidential seal.