U.S. OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL
1730 M Street, N.W., Suite 218
Washington, D.C. 20036-4505
202-804-7000

November 21, 2019
Ms. Danielle Brian
Executive Director
Project on Government Oversight
1100 G Street, NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL: (dbrian@pogo.org)
Re: OSC File Nos. HA-20-000045 and HA-20-000046
Dear Ms. Brian:
This letter is in response to the complaint you filed with the U.S. Office of Special
Counsel (OSC) alleging that the Office of Management and Budget Director and acting White
House Chief of Staff John Michael “Mick” Mulvaney and Ambassador Gordon Sondland
violated the Hatch Act by using their official authority to influence the outcome of the 2020
presidential election. 1 More specifically, the complaint alleges that Messrs. Mulvaney and
Sondland were involved in a White House directed plan to withhold military aid to Ukraine in
exchange for a public announcement that Ukraine would investigate the business dealings of
Hunter and Joe Biden, the latter being a political rival of President Donald J. Trump. Your
complaint notes that these allegations are the focus of the U.S. House of Representatives’s
ongoing impeachment inquiry, parallel investigations by executive branch agencies, and a White
House internal review. These ongoing investigations are looking into matters directly related to
the allegations present in your complaint. These investigations are also likely to yield a more
fulsome fact-finding record than an OSC investigation could develop. Thus, OSC will defer to
and monitor these investigations to determine if the developing evidentiary record raises Hatch
Act concerns.
Additionally, your complaint asserts that the activities of Messrs. Mulvaney and
Sondland may implicate President Trump in a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 610 and necessitate a
referral to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). 2 Before OSC makes a referral to DOJ, OSC
must have reasonable cause to believe that a criminal violation has occurred. 3 Based on the
evidence cited in your complaint, the allegations concerning President Trump do not reach the
threshold for a criminal referral at this time.

1

See 5 U.S.C. § 7323(a)(1).
See 18 U.S.C. § 610.
3
5 U.S.C. § 1214(d)(1).
2

 U.S. Office of Special Counsel
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If you have any questions, please contact me at (202) 804-7084.
Sincerely,

Ana Galindo-Marrone
Chief, Hatch Act Unit