Former High-Ranking HUD Official Disciplined for Hatch Act Violation

April 06, 2021

OSC today announced a settlement agreement reached with a former Trump administration HUD political appointee for violating the Hatch Act

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) today announced a settlement agreement reached with Lynne Patton, a former Trump administration political appointee who served as Region II Administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2017 to earlier this year. As part of the agreement, Patton admitted to violating the Hatch Act by using her official position to produce a video about housing conditions for the Republican National Convention (RNC).

As a HUD employee, Patton received permission in early 2019 to temporarily live in and observe living conditions in the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). During her approximately one-month stay, Patton met residents and later leveraged one of these relationships to recruit participants to film a video that would air at the RNC. Patton wanted NYCHA residents to appear in the video to explain how their standard of living had improved under the Trump administration.

By using information and NYCHA connections available to her solely by virtue of her HUD position, Patton improperly harnessed the authority of her federal position to assist the Trump campaign in violation of the Hatch Act. Per the terms of the settlement agreement, Ms. Patton admitted that she engaged in conduct which violated the Hatch Act's use of official authority prohibition and agreed to accept a 48-month debarment from federal employment and pay a $1,000 civil fine.