The Office of Special Counsel has determined that White House economic advisor Peter Navarro knowingly violated the Hatch Act and should face discipline, CBS News reports.

Navarro made repeated disparaging and politically motivated comments about then-candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in an attempt to promote the ultimately-failed reelection campaign of Donald Trump.  The make the case more egregious, Navarro continued to go on new networks and on Twitter to make similar comments after he learned of the OSC investigation.

“Dr. Navarro’s violations of the Hatch Act were knowing and willful,” OSC wrote. “The White House Counsel’s Office attorney explained that all White House employees receive mandatory ethics training, which includes training on the Hatch Act. And five of the interviews discussed above occurred after OSC sent its July 21, 2020 letter to Dr. Navarro, putting him on notice of the allegations OSC was investigating. Yet Dr. Navarro continued to violate the Hatch Act by attacking presidential candidate Joe Biden during official interviews despite knowing that OSC was investigating him for engaging in that very activity.”

Navarro becomes at least the third official cited for Hatch Act violations, with Kellyanne Conway, Larry Kudlow and Trump’s daughter Ivanka being cited in the past.  None of them faced any disciplinary actions because the President is responsible for determining punishments for Hatch Act violations in the Executive Branch, and he doesn’t see any need to punish violations of the law among his supporters.