The Hound Dog October 4th, 2007

Mitch McConnell must be sweating today with the resignation of his former Chief of Staff. Scott Jennings repeatedly tried to invoke executive privilege during his past testimony after being supoenaed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Now it looks like he won’t hide behind that defense when questions about his alleged violations of the Hatch Act come up again.

Think Progress has a look back at Jennings’ scandal-ridden tenure:

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Installed political cronies as U.S. attorneys: Jennings was intimately involved in installing Rove-protege Tim Griffin as U.S. attorney in Arkansas. E-mails show that “Jennings was in close contact with Griffin, even working out the logistics of getting Griffin appointed.” A former RNC research director, Griffin was allegedly involved in a voter suppression scheme in the 2004 election.

Briefed government employees on helping GOP candidates: In Jan. 2007, Jennings and GSA chief Lurita Doan held a briefing for agency employees on “ways to help Republican candidates.” Multiple other government agencies report similar briefings. The Hatch Act explicitly prohibits partisan campaign activities on federal property.

Skirted Presidential Records Act by using political e-mail accounts: Jennings was one of at least 80 White House aides who stopped using official government e-mail accounts to avoid public scrutiny. Instead, he used a “gwb43.com” e-mail address to correspond about his political — and potentially illegal — activities.

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UPDATE 4.45pm: You can find a list of Peritus Public Relations clients here.

• J. Scott Jennings
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