Full Breakdown
Recordings Reveal Senate Staff Concerns Over Potential Hatch Act Violations in Marsha Blackburn’s Office
7/21/2026, 4:29:39 AM
Allegations of Hatch Act and Ethics Violations
New recordings obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates and provided to the Senate Ethics Committee show senior staff members warning that taxpayer-funded aides were being asked to perform political work for Senator Marsha Blackburn’s 2024 re-election campaign. In the audio, a staffer references “violations of Senate ethics rules” and describes the request as “a gross violation of the Hatch Act,” which prohibits using federal employees or funds for campaign activity. The recordings were part of a 2025 Senate Ethics Committee probe into alleged misuse of taxpayer resources for Blackburn’s campaign.
Staff Testimony from Recordings
The tapes capture a junior staffer expressing unease: “When it gets to the point where I’m just, like, ethically, the moment it feels like I’m crossing ethical lines….” A senior aide replies, “I don’t like it,” and later warns, “You’re going to be asked to break the law – on some level… you’re basically a campaign worker and, you know, blowing off your real job.” The conversation repeatedly blames longtime political strategist Ward Baker, with one staffer describing him as “a psychopath… there is no empathy, compassion, dignity, integrity.” Another senior voice notes an “unwritten rule that he gets to break all the rules.”
Official Response
When questioned by WKRN’s Bob Mueller, Blackburn called the complaint “politically motivated,” stating, “It was fully investigated. There was no misconduct. There was no disciplinary action. And it has been completely resolved.” She declined to release the Ethics Committee correspondence, and her campaign manager, Abigail Sigler, refused to comment, labeling the reporting “inaccurate and totally without any basis in fact.”
Expert Commentary
Kedric Payne, general counsel and vice president of the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center, said, “The ethical concern with having official staff working on the campaign is that you’re using taxpayer money for campaign activity,” reinforcing that such conduct would breach basic ethics rules known to all Senate staff.
Verbatim Quotes
- “This was a politically motivated complaint,” — Marsha Blackburn, Senator, interview with Bob Mueller
- “WTVF Kedric Payne of the Campaign Legal Center "The ethical concern with having official staff working on the campaign is that you're using taxpayer money for campaign activity,” said Kedric Payne, general counsel and vice president for the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center.” — Kedric Payne, General Counsel, Campaign Legal Center
- “He's a psychopath, and he doesn't care – and he's not going to.” — Senior staffer, recording (anonymous)
- “I think that there is an unwritten rule that he gets to break all the rules. I suspect you don't disagree....” — Senior staffer, recording (anonymous)
