Washington Post: ‘It’s entirely inappropriate’: Trump shot a political video on Air Force One

Seated behind a desk on Air Force One, the presidential seal over his left shoulder, President Trump shot a short video Thursday, blasting New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s entry into the 2020 race.

“If you like high taxes and if you like crime you can vote for him, but most people aren’t into that,” the president said to the camera.

Trump’s use of taxpayer-funded transportation to post a political message raises some legal and ethics questions. But possibly the greatest crime, some experts say, is the breakdown of norms.

“It’s entirely inappropriate, and it is against historical norms for a president to be campaigning from Air Force One,” said Paul S. Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, a nonpartisan watchdog group. “Most presidents have had enough respect for the office to try to separate campaigning from formal duties. Donald Trump is not such a president.” …

Under Trump, formal Hatch Act complaints have increased 30 percent, with the most frequent offender being White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, who often mixes politics and official business.

The penalties for breaking the Hatch Act range from a formal reprimand to job termination. For a White House employee, the Office of Special Counsel makes a recommendation of a penalty to the president and it’s up to him to act on it, Ryan said.

“Senior administration has repeatedly violated the Hatch Act, so they’ve gotten reprimands from the Office of Special Counsel, but they keep it doing it over and over again,” Ryan said. “The problem is that the president doesn’t care about ethics laws.”