President Trump is now mulling the White House as a locale for his Republican National Convention acceptance speech. He has already canceled plans to host festivities in Jacksonville, Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina.
“Well, we’re thinking about it. It would be less difficult from a security standpoint,” Fox and Friends told Fox and Friends Wednesday. “We’re thinking of doing it from the White House because there’s no movement. It’s easy, and I think it’s a lovely setting and we’re thinking about it. This is one of the alternatives. It’s the simplest alternative.” The president later added that while some speeches will be virtual, others will be live in places in Washington, D.C. “I’m going to do mine Thursday night and it will be live.”
But his suggestion raised legal and moral questions about the federal government’s cash cross-examination activities.
The Hatch Act forbids the use of government buildings and employees for campaign activities, with few exceptions. While the president and vice president are exempt, any White House or government employee who helps facilitate campaign activity risks breaking federal law.
“Is that even legal?” GOP Senator John Thune said to reporters when asked about the president’s plans. “I assume that’s not something that you could do,” the Republican senator from South Dakota said, citing a potential “Hatch Act issue.” The senator added, “I think anything you do on federal property would seem to be to be problematic.”
But the president defended the idea Wednesday, calling it a “very convenient idea” during a White House news conference. “Well it is legal,” Mr. Trump said. “There is no Hatch Act because it doesn’t pertain to the president. But if I use the White House, we save tremendous amounts of money for the government in terms of security, traveling. If we go to another state, some other location, the amount of money is very enormous, so that’s something to consider also.”
While law enforcement is based on the president, who in the past avoided taking steps to enforce federal law, the Republican Party would be guilty of filling the charge for any political events.
“The campaign still needs to pay for the event,” Kedric Payne, general counsel and senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center tells CBS News. “How does the campaign reimburse for expenses like the cost of the White House lawn?”
In addition to the Hatch Act, Payne noted that federal criminal law prohibits the president and vice president of White House staff from interacting in political activities. “If the assistance of government workers facilitates a political occasion because the boss tells them, this is President Trump. Trump is not exempt from the law, which prohibits him from forcing government workers to engage in political activities.”
Party officials planning the convention are considering the White House South Lawn as a possible locale for the acceptance speech. According to Republicans familiar with planning, the three nights of programming will feature a combination of live events and virtual livestreams.
Deputy communications director for the Republican National Committee Rick Gorka told CBS News the GOP is “working through a lot of plans to make sure that we have the online content and the digital content, and maybe some in-person events as we again make the case for what the president has done over the last four years and why he deserves another term.” Gorka added that national monuments were a “possibility” for the Republican spectacle. “There’s a lot of beautiful monuments across this country,” he said. “A lot of options from the St. Louis Arch, I know we had a great event at Mount Rushmore. We have some great national parks and great open places. There’s a lot to showcase about this country.”
The Washington Post first reported Tuesday night that both the South Lawn and Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., are being floated as venues for the president’s acceptance speech.
Legal experts note previous officeholders have confined political activity in the White House by hosting political events in the president’s residential quarters. “The sensible position would be as risk averse as possible,” John Holcomb, professor of business ethics and legal studies at the University of Denver told CBS News. “Go to the basement, go to the [White House] residence, the Trump hotel, and then straighten out any financial reimbursement issues, which would ultimately come back to the RNC. And if necessary, get the White House staff out of the way, who might be potentially legally vulnerable.”
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez told called the president’s suggestion of a White House political speech “ethically breathtaking.” In an interview with MSNBC, Perez said, “It would be a nonstarter for any Democrat running. That is so unethical. But there’s no surprise there.”
The coronavirus pandemic, which continues to increase in many states, has set aside draft agreements between the two sides. Democratic organizers announced Wednesday that Joe Biden would not go to Milwaukee to settle for his party’s nomination, choosing instead to face his home state of Delaware.
For his part, President Trump had in the past planned to settle for his party’s nomination as a user in front of thousands of others in a Charlotte stadium. The president uprooted the party festivities in Jacksonville after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, cited public physical fitness disorders amid the accumulation of COVID-19. Later, Trump canceled the Jacksonville festivities amid an influx of new coronavirus cases in Florida.
“It’s remarkable to see all the crafting plans that entered the 2020 conference, adapting to the dynamics of public health conversion,” a former GOP conference planning official told CBS News. “And then see that everything happens. This is crazy.
Trump’s crusade has been postponed to the White House for ethical and legal issues. White House officials told CBS News, “The president is not the subject of the Hatch Act,” but they have not yet addressed the potential implications for administrative staff. The NCR did not respond to the request for comment.
The Trump family has faced criticism for profiting from the president’s reelection bid amid the pandemic.
President Trump told Fox News he would be joined by the first lady, who also plans an address during GOP convention program, in addition to Trump allies Representatives Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan. “I will probably do mine live from the White House,” the president added. “If for some reason somebody had difficulty with it, I could go someplace else.”
Major Garrett, Ed O’Keefe, Adam Brewster and Corey Rangel contributed to this report.