For those of you who are federal employees, you may be interested in the following.
Out of an abundance of caution, I took the time to visit with our lawyers at Fort Meade, both the Ethics and the Litigation attorneys, to understand the exact boundaries of what we can and can't do. You may be surprised as just how far we can go. Here's what they said:
Ethics then send me over to Litigation. They advise people who have to testify in court, or who are called for jury duty, about what to say re: anonymity. I did so and was advised their concerns were as follows:
If you have further questions or want the exact names of the lawyers I spoke with please feel free to PM me and I'll PM back my sid. You can then contact me on the inside if you wish. But really, I think we're pretty good to go if you follow the guidance above provided by them.
Out of an abundance of caution, I took the time to visit with our lawyers at Fort Meade, both the Ethics and the Litigation attorneys, to understand the exact boundaries of what we can and can't do. You may be surprised as just how far we can go. Here's what they said:
- The big concern of the Hatch Act is prohibiting partisan political activities. Since gun control is a non-partisan issue, even as DoD / IC employees, the Hatch Act simply does not apply to this situation.
- We may: express our opinions publicly, write letters to the editor, call/write/email/fax/visit legislators and their staff.
- We may speak at rallies, and we may testify in front of the Maryland Senate Judiciary Committee.
- All of the above must be done on our own time and in our own personal capacity.
- I even asked about phone calls from work. We are permitted to make short personal phone calls from our desks and use government phones for that, versus going all the way out to the parking lot to retrieve our pesonal cell phones. The interests of the US Government are best served by keeping us at our desks. I asked if we could use this same rule even to call state legislators and lobby for/against gun control. The lawyers said "yes" and that the "contents" of personal phone calls could not be judged by the USG, as that would be "overstepping". I was told, obviously, that we could not go so far as to be engaged in "phone banking".
Ethics then send me over to Litigation. They advise people who have to testify in court, or who are called for jury duty, about what to say re: anonymity. I did so and was advised their concerns were as follows:
- Kinda obvious, but we can't reveal classified information.
- They want to make sure you don't have a particularly sensitive anonymity assignment. You know who you are...
- You need to make clear that you are not speaking for, nor representing the USG or your employer, or in any way exploiting your federal position. If asked where I work, my canned answer will be: "Senator, I am here on my own behalf, and do not represent my employer" and let it go at that.
- They also asked that we give them a heads-up and fill out a Court Form. If you work at the Fort, on the inside in your browser "go litigation" and click on the link in the upper left hand corner. They'll just basically contact you and repeat what I just told you here. In the Comments box I recommend typing: "I plan to testify on my own time and in my personal capacity in front of the Maryland Senate Judiciary Committee on 2/6/2013 on the non-partisan subject of gun control. I will avoid all references to my employer and will stay away from all work-related and classified information."
If you have further questions or want the exact names of the lawyers I spoke with please feel free to PM me and I'll PM back my sid. You can then contact me on the inside if you wish. But really, I think we're pretty good to go if you follow the guidance above provided by them.
