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Republicans File Ethics Complaint Against McGinty

Filing by Pennsylvania GOP based on hacked email from WikiLeaks dump

Republicans in Pennsylvania allege that Democrat Katie McGinty violated a code of conduct by sending an email from her personal account while serving as the governor's chief of staff. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Republicans in Pennsylvania allege that Democrat Katie McGinty violated a code of conduct by sending an email from her personal account while serving as the governor's chief of staff. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

The Republican Party of Pennsylvania filed an ethics complaint on Wednesday against Democratic Senate candidate Katie McGinty based on a hacked email that WikiLeaks released.

The state GOP said in a release that, according to emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta that were revealed in a hack, McGinty emailed Podesta seeking campaign advice.

[McGinty Asked Podesta: Should I Run for Senate?]

At the time, McGinty was chief of staff to Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. She is currently running against GOP incumbent Sen. Patrick J. Toomey.

Pennsylvania Republicans argue that McGinty’s email was a violation of the governor’s Code of Conduct, which prohibits political activity during working hours.

“Although the email was sent from Ms. McGinty’s personal email account, the prohibited activity was transacted during the course of Commonwealth business hours,” the complaint said.

McGinty and Podesta both worked in President Bill Clinton’s administration, with Podesta serving as chief of staff and McGinty as chairwoman of the Council on Environmental Quality.

The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report/Roll Call rates the race a Tossup.

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