Republican allies of Donald Trump are threatening to terminate the federal contracts of Deloitte, a major consulting firm, following the disclosure of messages from 2020 by one of its employees. The messages, which were critical of Trump’s presidency, were shared by the employee.
What Happened: The employee, Kevin Gallagher, who is not associated with the content of the messages, was publicly named by Donald Trump Jr., and his comments were further circulated by Sen. J.D. Vance‘s (R-Ohio) chief spokesman and a Republican senator. The Washington Post reported on Monday.
Vance stated in the messages that Trump had “thoroughly failed to deliver” on his economic agenda while in the White House and predicted he would likely lose the election to Joe Biden, according to the report.
Experts have raised concerns that this incident could be a sign of how a second Trump administration might use the federal government’s power to punish individual workers for their political actions.
Despite federal contracting laws prohibiting the termination of a business due to its workers’ private political views, such threats could have a chilling effect.
"I've never seen anything like this," said Kedric Payne, senior director of ethics at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center and former deputy chief counsel in the Office of Congressional Ethics.
See Also: Trump Says ‘We Need A Mandate In The Vote, And We’re Going To Get It’ As 2024 Election Draws Near
Deloitte, which receives approximately $3 billion annually from federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense, has not yet addressed how it has handled the situation or whether the employee has faced any internal discipline.
Vance’s campaign clarified that he has not called for Deloitte to lose its contracts, and neither he nor Trump Jr. has explicitly demanded Gallagher’s termination.
Why It Matters: This incident is the latest in a series of public threats from Trump’s MAGA movement. The former president has previously threatened to use the Justice Department to jail his opponents if he wins a second term. Many of his supporters on social media have called for the employee to be fired.
Deloitte, however, has a political action committee that has distributed its spending across candidates in both parties in recent elections. The company has stated that it is “deeply committed to supporting our government and commercial clients and we have a long track record of doing so across parties and administrations,” according to the report
This incident comes amid a series of legal and financial challenges surrounding Trump and his ventures. Recently, Trump’s new cryptocurrency venture faced legal issues, with its legal counsel accused of attempting to seize control of a rival firm.
Earlier this year, Trump was involved in a lawsuit against the co-founders of his media company, Trump Media & Technology DJT, for allegedly failing to fulfill their obligations.
Additionally, Trump was fined $355 million and banned from company leadership in New York for fraudulently overstating his net worth.
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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Kaustubh Bagalkote
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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