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Comment by Terr_ | Hacker News Reader

In addition to the obvious problems of the US government illegally firing one family-member solely to punish a different family-member's constitutionally-protected free-speech... I'd also highlight these aren't even the same part of the federal government. ICE is under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), whereas she is/was employed as a forensic accountant at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

To make an throw-back reference, this like the DOJ firing one of their forensic accountants just because her spouse gave out t-shirts at a convention with DeCSS source code on them and pissed off the Copyright Office.

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You sound surprised? The administration has been purging non-loyalists since January.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they start firing anyone who even downloaded the app.

The FBI's literally putting employees under polygraphs to purge non-MAGA loyalists.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/us/politics/fbi-polygraph...

> "Some senior officials who have taken the test have been asked whether they said anything negative about the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel."

There's a lot of "MAGA loyalists" who would fail that test too.

all of them :)

I was (at least up until the other week) extremely pro MAGA and did not like Patel.

I don't think anyone is surprised about this, but it's still important to make a big stink. As soon as we go quiet and stop caring, they win.

The DOJ's position is that she is threatening the lives of federal agents.

The oath says "Support and Defend the Constitution", not "Support and Defend the Con". I really hope she can sue them for a ridiculous amount of damages.

And which judges would go down that path? Surely not the supreme court.

You lot are in a lot of trouble.

It'd be great if you didn't take us with you, or leave some other peanut dictatorship to take over.

Best Regards, the world.

Not a different person

"discovered she has a sizable interest in All U Chart, Inc., the company that holds the IP for ICEBlock"

I'm not sure what hen's employee contract reads.

There are some limitations on US government employees engaging in political action though (Hatch act).

Perhaps hen sent a text relating to All U during work hours?

Since when is dissemination of publicly facing information considered political action under the Hatch Act? The latter requires the person to use their influence or be on duty for it to count. The raids being reported by the app aren’t using insider information, they’re in progress and out in the open.

This situation is pretty clear cut. The administration isn’t being coy about purging anyone they think might be less than blindly loyal.

AFAIK, ownership interest in a company doesn't violate any of the Hatch restrictions, even on the "further restricted" category of employees. So unless she took specific political actions while on the job, using her authority, or using federal resources, this is not a Hatch violation.

> There are some limitations on US government employees engaging in political action though (Hatch act).

In both terms, the Trump Administration has been full of top-to-bottom, flagrant violations off the Hatch Act by loyalists.

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