Expert: No Hatch Act violation with officers at Trump event

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A law professor says the Hatch Act does not apply to the appearance of police officers at a campaign event with former President Donald Trump.

Trump visited Grand Rapids Tuesday to talk about immigration. Present at his event were a number of law enforcement officers. Allegan County Sheriff Frank Baker and Van Buren County Sheriff Dan Abbott shared their view on how the situation at the southern border has affected their counties, particularly in regards to drugs.

Former President Trump talks immigration in Grand Rapids

Some News 8 viewers were concerned about a violation of the Hatch Act, which limits certain political activities of federal employees, as well as some state, D.C., and local government employees who work in connection with federally funded programs.

Cooley Law School Professor Jeffrey Swartz told News 8 there was no violation for one simple reason: Trump is not an employee of the federal government.

“No. They are not covered under the Hatch Act for the former president, even though he receives a pension and federal funds to run his office and his protection detail,” Swartz said.

Elected officials like sheriffs, Swartz says, are exempt.

“…They are an elected official and therefore under the Hatch Act, they are a state officer or a state employee, but because they are a partisan elected official, they are not covered under the Hatch Act,” said Swartz.

State leaders like the governor are not bound by the Hatch Act.

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“The lieutenant governor, the attorney general, are all not covered under the Hatch Act. Some other office holders may be if they are involved, again, in receiving federal funds or dispersing federal funds,” Swartz said.

There are other state officials to whom the Hatch Act does not apply.

“People who are not classified under the state or municipal merit civil service system can also be exempted depending on whether they work for an executive department or not,” said Swartz.

But Swartz did point out that there were a couple of things to consider. The first is if the law enforcement present were regular street officers or detectives on duty for Trump’s protection detail.

“If the former president is paying for their duty time, their off-duty time providing protection for himself through his campaign, that’s OK because they have been hired to do that duty by the campaign,” said Swartz, who is a professor of law at Cooley Law School’s Tampa Bay campus.

Secondly, Swartz pointed out the regular law enforcement officers sitting in the crowd behind Trump.

“That does create a problem under the Hatch Act because every single law enforcement agency in this country receives federal funds. So, the issue is they as the ultimate recipient, for example, their tools or their weapons, whatever they may be, may be paid for by the federal government. You have to look to see whether the person who is in charge of the disbursement of federal funds is there. If that person is there, then it really is a problem,” Swartz said.

But in this case, because Trump is not the sitting president, he has no say over the use of federal money.

Swartz also said you don’t normally see people charged under the Hatch Act for just being at a rally.

Sheriff Baker and Allegan County Prosecuting Attorney Myrene Koch released a statement recounting their experience advising Trump during his Tuesday visit.

“The former President invited Baker to speak at a news conference following the roundtable discussion with West Michigan’s law enforcement team,” the statement reads, in part.

Read Sheriff Baker’s full statement

“I deeply appreciate President Trump taking the time to meet with me, Prosecutor Koch, sheriffs, and several legislators to discuss ways to make our communities safer. We had a great discussion about how our unsecured border is allowing the trafficking of illegal drugs into our country. I was able to speak with him about the impact methamphetamine and fentanyl is making on our communities,” Baker wrote.

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