United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office General Government Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-07-24 monographic deposited born digital 36 p. GA 1.13:GGD-00-171 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-171 P0b002ee18039beea f:gg00171 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-171 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-171 GGD-00-171 Political activities Ethical conduct Lobbying activities Public officials Lawyers Letter Report GGD

U.S. Attorneys: Laws, Rules, and Policies Governing Political Activities (Letter Report, 07/24/2000, GAO/GGD-00-171).<p/>Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed various laws, rules, and policies related to the political activities of U.S. Attorneys, focusing on: (1) what laws and Department of Justice (DOJ) rules and policies govern U.S. Attorneys' involvement in Hatch Act partisan political activities; (2) what types of activities are permitted and what types are prohibited; (3) to what extent have U.S. Attorneys been involved in Hatch Act partisan political activities; (4) what DOJ rules and policies govern U.S. Attorneys' involvement in issue-oriented political activities; (5) to what extent have U.S. Attorneys been involved in issue-oriented political activities; and (6) what statutory or other provisions govern U.S. Attorney Offices' expenditure of federal funds and resources for political activities.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) U.S. Attorneys are prohibited from actively participating in Hatch Act partisan political activities; (2) generally, many restrictive provisions applicable to U.S. Attorneys are not imposed by the Hatch Act; (3) rather, they have been established under the Attorney General's discretionary authority and are documented in Attorney General policy memorandums; (4) these restrictions are similar to those that were imposed by statute on all federal employees before the Hatch Act Reform Amendments of 1993; (5) DOJ does not maintain or track data on U.S. Attorneys' participation in Hatch Act partisan political activities; (6) DOJ officials said that they are not aware of any violations of Attorney General restrictions related to the Hatch Act, since at least January 1995; (7) regarding issue-oriented political activities, before May 2000, DOJ rules and policies--as contained in the U.S. Attorneys' Manual--primarily addressed U.S. Attorneys' direct interaction with state and local legislative bodies; (8) in May 2000, DOJ revised the U.S. Attorneys' Manual to provide additional guidance and oversight related to public communications; (9) a new section to the manual--incorporating advice that previously had been given orally--discusses the need to be sensitive to comity considerations; (10) before January 2000, DOJ did not maintain or track data on the issue-oriented political activities of U.S. Attorneys at that the state or local level; (11) DOJ began to track U.S. Attorney Office inquiries related to such activities in January 2000; (12) DOJ's summaries of inquiries show that from January 19, 2000, to March 22, 2000, U.S. Attorney Offices contacted DOJ nine times for advice or approval regarding activities that involved or could potentially involve state or local legislative matters; (13) according to DOJ officials, beginning in May 2000, all activities that require prior DOJ approval under the revised U.S. Attorneys' Manual will be tracked; (14) over the years, Congress has imposed various restrictions on the use of federal funds for certain political activities; and (15) the restrictions applicable to DOJ have been construed to prohibit: (a) grass-roots lobbying in the form of agency appeals to the public to contact members of Congress in support of or in opposition to pending legislation; (b) publicity of a nature tending to emphasize an agency's own importance; and (c) covert propaganda activities. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-171/html/GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-171.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-171/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-171.pdf GAO/GGD-00-171 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-171 Letter Report GAO/GGD-00-171; U.S. Attorneys: Laws, Rules, and Policies Governing; Political activities Ethical conduct Lobbying activities Public officials Lawyers Title 5 Section 7321-7326 Title 5 Section 7323 Title 5 Section 7323(a) Title 5 Section 7324(a) Title 5 Section 7325 5 U.S.C. 7321-7326 5 U.S.C. 7323 5 U.S.C. 7323(a) 5 U.S.C. 7324(a) 5 U.S.C. 7325 Title 18 Section 1913 Title 18 Section 603 18 U.S.C. 1913 18 U.S.C. 603 Public Law 76-252 Public Law 103-94 Public Law 106-58 Public Law 106-113