Trump says he won't fire Conway over Hatch Act violations

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (C) and his campaign manager Kellyanne Conway shop for snack food at a Wawa gas station November 1, 2016 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump says he won't fire White House counselor Kellyanne Conway after a federal watchdog agency recommended her removal for repeatedly violating a law that limits political activity by government workers.

Trump tells Fox & Friends that he was briefed on the Office of Special Counsel investigation Thursday and says "it looks to me like they're trying to take away her right of free speech and that's just not fair."

OSC, which is unrelated to special counsel Robert Mueller's office, said in a letter to Trump that Conway has been a "repeat offender" of the Hatch Act by disparaging Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in her official capacity during television interviews and on social media.

Trump says of Conway, "she's got to have a right of responding to questions."