F e d e r a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n s C o m m i s s i o n W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . 2 0 5 5 4 T h o m a s M . J o h n s o n , J r . G e n e r a l C o u n s e l A p r i l 1 6 , 2 0 1 8 T h e H o n o r a b l e F r a n k P a l l o n e , J r . R a n k i n g M e m b e r C o m m i t t e e o n E n e r g y a n d C o m m e r c e U n i t e d S t a t e s H o u s e o f R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s 2 1 2 5 R a y b u r n H o u s e O f f i c e B u i l d i n g W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . 2 0 5 1 5 - 6 1 1 5 T h e H o n o r a b l e M i c h a e l F . D o y l e R a n k i n g M e m b e r S u b c o m m i t t e e o n C o m m u n i c a t i o n s a n d T e c h n o l o g y C o m m i t t e e o n E n e r g y a n d C o m m e r c e U n i t e d S t a t e s H o u s e o f R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s 2 3 9 C a n n o n H o u s e O f f i c e B u i l d i n g W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . 2 0 5 1 5 - 3 8 1 4 1 ) e a r R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s P a l l o n e a n d D o y l e : I w r i t e i n r e s p o n s e t o y o u r M a r c h 2 6 , 2 0 1 8 l e t t e r , a d d r e s s e d t o C h a i r m a n A j i t P a i a n d C o m m i s s i o n e r s M i c h a e l O ' R i e l l y a n d B r e n d a n C a n , r e g a r d i n g t h e i r r e c e n t a p p e a r a n c e a t t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e P o l i t i c a l A c t i o n C o n f e r e n c e ( C P A C ) h o s t e d b y t h e A m e r i c a n C o n s e r v a t i v e U n i o n( A C U ) . A t C P A C , t h e t h r e e C o m m i s s i o n e r s t o o k p a r t i n a p a n e l d i s c u s s i o n e n t i t l e d " T o I n f i n i t y a n d B e y o n d : H o w t h e F C C i s P a v i n g t h e W a y f o r I n n o v a t i o n . " Y o u r l e t t e r s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e C o m m i s s i o n e r s ' p a r t i c i p a t i o n a t C P A C m a y h a v e b e e n " e t h i c a l l y q u e s t i o n a b l e . " T o t h e c o n t r a r y , t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n w a s c o n s i s t e n t w i t h a l o n g t r a d i t i o n o f C o m m i s s i o n e r s c o n t r i b u t i n g t o r o b u s t d e b a t e o n i s s u e s o f i m p o r t a n c e t o t h e a g e n c y a n d t h e n a t i o n . F o r e x a m p l e , a t t h e C P A C p a n e l i n q u e s t i o n , t h e C o m m i s s i o n e r s d i s c u s s e d t o p i c s r a n g i n g f r o m e m p o w e r i n g e n t r e p r e n e u r s t o d e v e l o p n e w t e c h n o l o g i e s t o e x p a n d i n g b r o a d b a n d a c c e s s t o A m e r i c a n s i n r u r a l a r e a s . T h e C o m m i s s i o n e r s ' a b i l i t y t o a c c e p t p r o m i n e n t s p e a k i n g e n g a g e m e n t s l i k e t h i s o n e h e l p s p r o m o t e t r a n s p a r e n c y a n d a c c o u n t a b i l i t y a n d e n c o u r a g e s p u b l i c p a r t i c i p a t i o n a n d i n t e r e s t i n C o m m i s s i o n r u l e m a k i n g s , w i t h o u t c o n t r a v e n i n g a p p l i c a b l e e t h i c s o b l i g a t i o n s . Representatives Pallone and Doyle Page 2 Indeed, because the Commission consists of Presidentially appointed members from both political parties, Commissioners routinely speak at events sponsored by groups or attended by individuals whose viewpoints span the legal and political spectrum. In recent years, Commissioners have made appearances at events sponsored by the Center for American Progress, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Progressive Policy Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the Federalist Society, to name a few examples. This tradition of bipartisan participation in a broad array of legal and public policy conferences does not, and has never been understood to, violate applicable ethics rules. As your letter notes, the Hatch Act, its implementing regulations, and federal ethics rules place important limitations on the activities of public officials. Accordingly, career ethics attorneys in the Commission's Office of General Counsel regularly train and advise Commissioners and their staff on compliance with the Hatch Act and other legal and ethical requirements. As explained below, however, our career agency ethics officials have consistently treated the Commissioners' participation on panels at events such as CPAC as well within the bounds of what applicable rules allow. Indeed, career ethics officials advised the Chairman's Office prior to the event that it would be appropriate for the three Commissioners to appear together on the panel in question. The Hatch Act places certain limitations on covered Executive Branch employees (including Commissioners) who participate in political activity. Political activity, however, is narrowly defined as "an activity directed toward the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group." 5 C.F.R. § 734.101. By participating in a panel at CPAC this year and in past years, the Chairman and Commissioners were not engaging in partisan political activity. Rather, they were presenting information on behalf of the Commission, including both facts and opinions on public policy issues within the agency's purview. The mere fact that the leadership or audience at an event may lean in one political direction does not transform an organization into a "partisan political group" under the Hatch Act. The ACU, a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) organization, describes itself as "the leading entity in providing conservative positions on issues to Congress, the Executive Branch, State Legislatures, the media, political candidates, and the public." American Conservative Union, http://conservative.org/about/ . While ACU has a conservative outlook, it is not affiliated with any one political party, and tickets to CPAC are available for sale to the public regardless of political affiliation. Similarly, the Center for American Progress, a 501(c)(3) organization, describes itself as "dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans, through bold, progressive ideas," but has no formal party affiliation-despite partnering with a 501(c)(4) that engages in some political advocacy. Center for American Progress, https ://www.americanprogress .org/missionl. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which is tasked with interpreting and implementing the Hatch Act, has reviewed these common arrangements among non-profit organizations and concluded that even though 50l(c)(4)s like ACU are permitted to participate in some political activity on behalf of or in opposition to candidates, they are not "partisan political group[s]" for purposes of the Act because political activity is not their primary activity. U.S. Office of Special Counsel, https ://osc gov/Pages/HatchAct-FAQs.aspx. R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s P a l l o n e a n d D o y l e P a g e 3 B e c a u s e p a r t i c i p a t i o n a t C P A C i s n o t p o l i t i c a l a c t i v i t y , a s d e f i n e d b y t h e H a t c h A c t , t h e r e w a s n o n e e d f o r a n y C o m m i s s i o n e r t o a b i d e b y t h e l i m i t a t i o n s t h a t t h e A c t p l a c e s o n t h e u s e o f a p p r o p r i a t e d f u n d s , o f f i c i a l s t a f f , o r a g e n c y r e s o u r c e s i n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h s u c h a c t i v i t y . S e e 5 C . F . R . § 7 3 4 . 5 0 3 . R a t h e r , i t w a s e n t i r e l y a p p r o p r i a t e f o r t h o s e C o m m i s s i o n e r s t o u s e s t a f f r e s o u r c e s t o p r e p a r e r e m a r k s a n d o t h e r w i s e a s s i s t t h e m i n a p p e a r i n g b e f o r e C P A C . N o r d i d t h e C o m m i s s i o n e r s v i o l a t e a n y l e g a l o r e t h i c a l r u l e b y a c c e p t i n g f r e e a d m i s s i o n t o C P A C . P u r s u a n t t o t h e S t a n d a r d s o f E t h i c a l C o n d u c t f o r E m p l o y e e s o f t h e E x e c u t i v e B r a n c h , w h e n a n a g e n c y o f f i c i a l i s a s k e d t o s p e a k a t a n e v e n t , h i s o r h e r a t t e n d a n c e i s n o t a g i f t f o r e t h i c s p u r p o s e s , n o r i s t h e a t t e n d a n c e o f a c c o m p a n y i n g s t a f f . S e e 5 C . F . R . § 2 6 3 5 . 2 0 3 ( b ) ( 8 ) . R e l a t e d l y , a s t h e C o m m i s s i o n e r s a p p e a r e d a t t h e e v e n t t o d i s c u s s F C C p r o g r a m s a n d p o l i c i e s , t h e i n c l u s i o n o f t h e C o m m i s s i o n e r s ' p h o t o s a l o n g w i t h o t h e r s p e a k e r s i n m a t e r i a l s a b o u t t h e e v e n t w a s a p p r o p r i a t e a n d c o n s i s t e n t w i t h e t h i c a l r u l e s a n d s t a n d a r d s . T h e C o m m i s s i o n a n d t h e O f f i c e o f G e n e r a l C o u n s e l t a k e o u r e t h i c a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s v e r y s e r i o u s l y , a n d w h e n i s s u e s a r i s e , w e t a k e p r o m p t a c t i o n t o a d d r e s s t h e m , i n c l u d i n g , w h e r e a p p r o p r i a t e , c o o p e r a t i n g a n d c o o r d i n a t i n g w i t h t h e O f f i c e o f G o v e r n m e n t E t h i c s a n d t h e O f f i c e o f S p e c i a l C o u n s e l . T h e C o m m i s s i o n e r s , h o w e v e r , a c t e d w e l l w i t h i n t h e i r r i g h t s u n d e r t h e H a t c h A c t a n d f e d e r a l e t h i c a l r u l e s b y p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h e C P A C p a n e l a n d c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e p r a c t i c e o f p a s t C o m m i s s i o n e r s a p p o i n t e d u n d e r b o t h D e m o c r a t i c a n d R e p u b l i c a n P r e s i d e n t s . I t r u s t t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n h a s b e e n h e l p f u l t o y o u a n d t h a n k y o u f o r y o u r i n q u i r y . S i n c e r e l y ,