President Trump fired Federal Election Fee Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub on Thursday in a transfer the Democratic official claims is against the law.
Weintraub, who has served as an FEC commissioner since 2002, shared the termination letter she obtained from the president on X and signaled that she gained’t be leaving her publish quietly.
“Acquired a letter from POTUS right this moment purporting to take away me as Commissioner & Chair of [FEC],” Weintraub wrote on the social media platform. “There’s a authorized strategy to exchange FEC commissioners-this isn’t it.”
“I’ve been fortunate to serve the American folks & fire up some good bother alongside the best way,” she added. “That’s not altering anytime quickly.”
The succinct letter that Weintraub included in her publish was dated Jan. 31 and included the 78-year-old president’s distinctive signature.
“You’re hereby eliminated as a Member of the Federal Election Fee, efficient instantly,” Trump wrote. “Thanks to your service on the fee.”
The White Home didn’t instantly reply to The Publish’s request for remark.
The FEC, which has six commissioners, is an unbiased regulatory company tasked with implementing marketing campaign finance legal guidelines and overseeing the nation’s federal elections.
Not more than three commissioners could also be affiliated with the identical political get together and commissioners serve six-year phrases upon being confirmed by the Senate.
Weintraub’s time period expired in 2007 however she remained on the fee “in holdover standing” for over twenty years as a alternative for her was by no means appointed.
Weintraub has been important of Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud in federal elections.
“I feel it’s damaging to our democracy to unfold data like that if there is no such thing as a proof,” she instructed CNN in a 2019 interview, in accordance with Fox Information, describing Trump’s allegations as “baseless.”
Then, in a prolonged X thread, Weintraub argued that Trump’s “falsehoods” about widespread mail-in voting fraud “usually are not mere phrases.”
“These falsehoods might properly undermine the American folks’s religion in our democracy,” she wrote in a Could 2020 thread.
The axed FEC official instructed the New York Instances Thursday that she was “not likely stunned” by Trump’s letter.
“There have been dozens of complaints filed towards the president,” Weintraub instructed the outlet.
“I’ve pointed that out. I’ve written about this. So I’m not likely stunned that I’m on their radar,” she added.
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