Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro violated the Hatch Act by endorsing President Joe Biden during a January trip to the U.K., an Office of the Special Counsel report found.
According to the special counsel’s report to the White House, Del Toro violated the Hatch Act twice Jan. 25, 2024, when he encouraged Americans to vote for Biden, the presumptive Democratic candidate at the time while acting in his official capacity as Secretary of the Navy.
“Secretary Del Toro impermissibly asserted his personal political campaign views during official agency business – a violation of the Hatch Act’s prohibition against using his official authority or influence for the purpose of affecting the result of an election,” reads the report.
The first violation of the Hatch Act was on Jan. 25 during a BBC interview. In response to a question about whether there would be a new secretary of the Navy following the election, Del Toro said he believed he would remain in the position and encouraged Americans to vote for Biden.
“We cannot afford to have a president who aligns himself with autocratic dictators and rulers whose interpretation of democratic principles is suspicious [at] best. And who, quite frankly, confuses presidential candidates with our former speaker of the house, for that matter. And so I’m confident that the American people will step up to the plate come November and support President Biden for a second term as our Commander-in-Chief, so that we can continue to work together as free democratic countries respect each other around the globe,” Del Toro told the reporter, according to the report.
In a second BBC interview, Del Toro again endorsed Biden while also raising doubt about former President Donald Trump’s ability to lead.
Download the report here.
“And it is my humble opinion that the United States deserves that continued leadership in the way of President Biden. And I think the world does as well, too,” Del Toro told the reporters.
Del Toro reported the interactions to the OSC. In his letter, he said, “my intent in the interview was to respond with a focus on national security and the importance of strong international alliances. In retrospect, I believe my response should have been delivered more broadly without reference to specific candidates.”
While Del Toro never specifically says Trump in the interview, according to the OSC report, the secretary did answer two questions from the BBC about the former president.
“And when you have someone who doesn’t align to those core principles, it makes you wonder, you know, should you be supporting that individual?” Del Toro said in the BBC interview, according to the report.
The Navy did not respond to a request for comment. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters that the Department of Defense is reviewing the OSC report.
“It’s important that we maintain the trust and confidence of the American people, which requires us to avoid any action that could imply the support of any local party, candidate or campaign,” Singh told reporters Thursday.
Michael Bromwich, Del Toro’s attorney, told USNI News on Thursday the OSC had a “formalistic” interpretation of the Hatch Act. He stressed that Del Toro had self-reported the incident to the OSC that occurred on foreign soil and he was not traveling for political purposes. Bromwich said Del Toro was asked about Trump and “sidestepped it to the best of his ability.”
In a letter included in the report, Bromwich argued that OSC should dismiss the case. The argument is based on the spontaneity of the BBC interview questions, noting that Del Toro did not have political statements in prepared remarks, as well as the audience of the interview as it was in the United Kingdom rather than the United States.
“OSC’s finding of a Hatch Act violation is a mechanical and inappropriate application of the rules prohibiting the involvement of federal officials in political activities,” Bromwich wrote, according to the report.
