Thursday, March 3, 2011

Legal Implications for Huntsman Reality Video


Per Politico

The presence of a private documentary crew trailing Ambassador Jon Huntsman on the job in China could lead to more political and legal complications as he weighs a presidential bid.

The Hatch Act, the federal law that prevents most federal officials from campaigning for office, could come into play if the documentary is used by the campaign-in-waiting, said Richard Painter, the White House's top ethics lawyer during George W. Bush's second term.

"You can't just have video crews following our ambassadors around -- private video crews." Painter, now a law professor at the University of Minnesota, told POLITICO. "If he gave this video crew any special access, or allowed them to do anything other video crews would not be allowed to do, then it would be a serious problem under the Hatch Act if the video were to be used for campaign purposes."


So, Huntsman could break campaign laws with this reality video of himself on the job in China as US Ambassador. Can we please kick the ethically challenged candidates to the curb?

5 comments:

BOSMAN said...

Speaking of videos, did Huntsman make any official statement yet related to him showing up at a Chinese protest the other day?

Anonymous said...

Huntsman must be a legend in his own mind.

He can't seriously think that he is a player with Romney in the race.

zeke

Anonymous said...

Bosman, I haven't been able to find any comments from Huntsman himself. Just disclaimers from 'US officials'.

Ann said...

If Huntsman decides to enter the race, I wouldn't be surprised if he had a VP deal with someone to try to draw votes away from Romney.

He knows he can't possibly win.

Bill589 said...

Working for Obama is not a good thing on his resume either.