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Originally posted by Nina:
We all know that Trump will deliver his acceptance speech from the White House. As I understand it, the president is exempt from Hatch Act restrictions, but only the president and vice president--raising the interesting question of whether any other staffers are in violation for assisting with the setup and broadcast of the speech. Of course the odds of any legal action being taken before January 21st are exactly zero.

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Other speakers include Nick Sandmann, the fromer Covington Catholic High School student whose interaction with a Native American elder in Washington was captured on video that went viral;

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The Republican National Committee issued a resolution stating that due to constraints on the size of this year's Republican National Convention, it will not be adopting a new party platform, leaving in place the one from 2016.

The resolution says the platform committee would have agreed to continue supporting President Trump and his administration but did not want to have a small group draft a new platform for the party.

"The RNC has unanimously voted to forego the Convention Committee on Platform, in appreciation of the fact that it did not want a small contingent of delegates formulating a new platform without the breadth of perspectives within the ever-growing Republican movement," the resolution says.

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The resolution accuses the media of "outrageously misrepresent[ing] the implications of the RNC not adopting a new platform in 2020" and "calls on the media to engage in accurate and unbiased reporting, especially as it relates to the strong support of the RNC for President Trump and his Administration."

Republicans announced back in June that they would not draft a new platform, continuing with the old one. At the time, Trump said that he would prefer "a new and updated platform," even if it was shorter than usual.

The new resolution states that "platforms are snapshots of the historical contexts in which they are born, and parties abide by their policy priorities, rather than their political rhetoric." The 2016 platform is no different, especially in terms of historical context, as it contains outdated references such as condemnations of the “current” president, who at the time was President Barack Obama.

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Normally these senators could use campaigning as an excuse for not being able to make it to the convention. But since it’s a convention where video feeds will be the norm, that excuse doesn’t work.....It’s not just politicians swing states that are affected by Trump’s unpopularity right now. Sen. Steve Daines is running for reelection in Montana, a state that Trump won by 20 percentage points in 2016. Yet he’s faced with a tough reelection battle, too, in large part because of Trump. He won’t be speaking at the convention either. (In 2016, Daines said he’d be fly-fishing during the convention , one of many in the Republican establishment to skip out on seeing Trump nominated.)

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But we won’t see other Republican senators like Ted Cruz (Tex.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Rick Scott (Fla.) at the convention. The highest-ranking GOP woman in the House, Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), could be on a potential 2024 list, and she doesn’t have a planned appearance.

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Republican National Convention ... will not be adopting a new party platform.

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The 2016 platform ... contains ... condemnations of the “current” president

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Originally posted by pianojuggler:
So will Jerry ("zipper problem") Fallwell Jr be speaking?

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Originally posted by Nina:

One federal property I'm guessing they won't be using? The Hatfield Justice Center in downtown Portland.

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Originally posted by Amanda:

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Originally posted by Nina:

One federal property I'm guessing they won't be using? The Hatfield Justice Center in downtown Portland.

Or the anti-floral "Rose Garden" (where they COULD have fit a fair number of people subscribing to social distancing).

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a cable to all U.S. diplomatic missions last month warning American diplomats that under federal law they should not take overt sides in the presidential campaign. On Tuesday, he plans to ignore his own warning by speaking to the Republican National Convention endorsing President Donald Trump for a second term.

Pompeo's message to State Department employees reminding them of restrictions on political activity under the Hatch Act was not unusual. Similar, if not identical, cables have been sent by successive secretaries of state every presidential election year. None of his predecessors, however, has disregarded those instructions so obviously.

Despite State Department assurances that Pompeo will be speaking to the convention in his personal capacity and won’t violate the Hatch Act, Democrats and other critics have cried foul. They accuse the country’s top diplomat of inappropriate political behavior that has been anathema to his predecessors and of trashing his own admonition to State Department staffers.

“The department works to advance the national interest abroad on behalf of all Americans in a non-partisan fashion," Pompeo said in the July 24 cable. Known as an ALDAC, short for the distribution list to “ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR” posts, the cable was sent over Pompeo's signature as are all such messages from State Department headquarters.

"It is important to remember that in order to avoid any confusion or misperception in this regard, the department’s longstanding policy is that U.S. citizen employees and family members may not engage in partisan political activity while posted or on TDY abroad, even on personal time,” the cable said. TDY is an acronym for Temporary Duty.

“Similarly, presidential and political appointees and career (senior executives) are subject to significant restrictions on their political activity; they may not engage in any partisan political activity in concert with a partisan campaign, political party, or partisan political group, even on personal time and outside of the federal workplace,” the cable said.

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“It is unprecedented and highly unethical for a sitting secretary of state to address a political convention while on official foreign travel," said Halie Soifer, the head of the Jewish Democratic Council of America. “In addition to violating the Hatch Act, Secretary Pompeo’s plans to speak at the Republican National Convention from Jerusalem underscore the president’s ongoing effort to politicize the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

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Originally posted by wtg:

I think Melania is doing a speech from the new Rose Garden.