Trump exploited the powers of the presidency and the backdrop of the White House to promote his campaign during night 2 of the RNC

U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as five candidates for naturalization coming from five different countries recite the oath of allegiance during the largely virtual 2020 Republican National Convention broadcast from Washington, U.S. August 25, 2020.

Republican National Convention/Reuters Images

• President Donald Trump made two surprise appearances on the second night of the Republican National Convention — and in both he broke ethical norms by using the powers of the presidency to promote his reelection campaign. 
• In the first instance, Trump pardoned Jon Ponder, a bank robber turned activist, at the White House. The move provoked widespread criticism that Trump had abused his office for partisan purposes.
• In perhaps the most blatant ethics violation of the night, Trump had his acting secretary of homeland security conduct a naturalization ceremony for five new US citizens at the White House.
• A federal law, known as the Hatch Act, bars federal employees — excluding the president — from engaging in any political activities, including campaigning, in their official capacities. 
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President Donald Trump made two surprise appearances on the second night of the Republican National Convention — and in both he broke ethical norms by using the powers of the presidency to promote his reelection campaign. 

In the first instance, Trump pardoned Jon Ponder, a bank robber turned activist, at the White House. The move provoked widespread criticism that Trump was abusing his office for purely partisan purposes.

In perhaps the most blatant ethics violation of the night, Trump had his acting secretary of homeland security, Chad Wolf, conduct a naturalization ceremony for five new US citizens at the White House. In the pre-recorded video, Wolf announced the new American citizens in his official capacity and Trump delivered remarks congratulating the individuals. 

A federal law, known as the Hatch Act, bars federal employees — excluding the president — from engaging in any political activities, including campaigning, in their official capacities. 

Later on Tuesday night, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a speech celebrating Trump's presidency from a rooftop in Jerusalem, where he is on a four-day taxpayer-funded diplomatic trip to the Middle East. State Department aides claimed Pompeo was acting in his personal capacity. 

It's unprecedented for sitting cabinet secretaries to appear at presidential nominating conventions or to use their offices for clearly partisan purposes. 

But some of the president's top aides have openly dismissed the Hatch Act, The New York Times recently reported. Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway has also repeatedly violated the ethics law.

On Tuesday, House Democrats announced they had opened an investigation into the legality of Pompeo's speech. 

Ethics experts had already taken issue with the president and first lady's scheduled keynote addresses being delivered from the White House.

On Monday night, Trump appeared in multiple videos filmed inside the White House and will deliver the convention's keynote address on Thursday from the South Lawn. Melania Trump is scheduled to speak later on Tuesday night from the Rose Garden at the White House. 

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