CONTACT: Jordan Libowitz
202-408-5565 | [email protected]

Washington- Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Regional Administrator Lynne Patton has been reprimanded for multiple violations of the Hatch Act following two complaints from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Patton violated the Hatch Act by using her official government Twitter account for partisan political activity and by prominently displaying a Trump campaign hat in her government office.

Prior to her controversial appointment to a government position, Patton served the Trump family for years, planning Eric Trump’s wedding and holding the role of Vice President of the Eric Trump Foundation, which has since rebranded under investigation. In her HUD role, she is responsible for public housing in New York and New Jersey, including Starrett City, the sale of which reportedly netted President Trump tens of millions of dollars. Patton reportedly recused from involvement with approval of the sale once her conflict of interest became widely reported.

“After years of serving Donald Trump’s interests, it appears that Lynne Patton is still doing so in her taxpayer-funded job,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said. “In a democracy, laws preventing the government from acting to keep itself in power are crucial, and we will work tirelessly to see that they are enforced.”

Patton is the 13th Trump official to be reprimanded for violating the Hatch Act and the 11th following a CREW complaint. In the reprimand, Patton was warned by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) that any further prohibited political activity could result in discipline. OSC took the unprecedented step earlier this year of calling for Kellyanne Conway to be removed from federal service following CREW’s complaints against her and repeated findings of violations.

“The Trump administration is an ethical quagmire, full of officials who act as if their job is to advance the president’s personal and political interests at taxpayer expense,” Bookbinder said. “Change needs to happen for the good of our democracy.”

Read the reprimand here.