Lynne Patton

Lynne Martine Patton (born 1973) is Deputy Assistant to the President for Coalition Policy and Engagement in the second Trump administration who previously served as Regional Director of United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) during the first Trump administration.

She was designated in June 2017 by President Donald Trump to head Region II of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which oversees New York and New Jersey, and remained in the role until Trump left office in January 2021. She was twice found to have violated the Hatch Act, a federal law restricting the political activities of federal executive-branch employees, and in 2021 was fined and barred from government service for four years. and helping to run the Eric Trump Foundation. She was a speaker at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Early life and education Patton grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, in the Westville neighborhood. Her father, epidemiologist Curtis L. Patton, was a professor (and is now professor emeritus) at Yale University.

Patton graduated from the University of Miami with a B.A. in English literature. She attended the Quinnipiac University School of Law for two semesters, and did not graduate. On her LinkedIn page, Patton previously claimed an affiliation with Yale University, which she had never attended.

Career Work for Trump family and Trump 2016 campaign Patton planned the wedding of Eric Trump.

Patton was one of 16 unpaid directors at the Eric Trump Foundation, though her position did not appear in the Foundation's 2014 tax filings. Her HUD financial disclosures stated that she had been a vice president and a board member at the Eric Trump Foundation from January 2009 to January 2017, and she speaks of being with the Trump family since 2009.

In May 2016, during Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Patton narrated a video in which she defended Trump against allegations of racism; the video garnered millions of views on YouTube. In her convention speech, she acknowledged historical racism, but said that "Donald Trump knows that your life matters. He knows that my life matters. He knows the LGBTQ lives matter. He knows that veterans lives matter. And he knows that blue lives matter." Later in the campaign, Patton joined other campaign spokeswomen on the Trump-Pence Women's Empowerment Tour.

She was a director of National Diversity Coalition for Trump.

First Trump administration

In January 2017, Patton was appointed a White House liaison and Director of Public Liaison for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Since the Trump Organization co-owns some properties that receive federal rental subsidies from HUD, her position raised questions of conflict of interest.

From July 5, 2017, to January 2021, Patton was head of HUD Region II, covering New York and New Jersey.

In January 2018, Patton apologized after calling April Ryan, the White House correspondent and Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks, "Miss Piggy".

In September 2018, Patton commented positively with two emojis on an Instagram post by Donald Trump Jr., the president's son, mocking the sexual assault allegation against Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. That same month, Patton made misleading posts on social media suggesting that CNN "is #FakeNews."

Patton's tenure at HUD was marked by publicity stunts. She began an announced month-long stay in NYCHA housing on February 11, 2019.

Patton also made a "surprise cameo" at a hearing of Michael Cohen, a former Trump attorney. After being pressed by committee chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) on what she meant, Tlaib clarified her remarks and apologized to Meadows. Patton also asked about the possibility of starring in a reality television program; and used the Trump family name in an unsuccessful attempt to have a HUD employee fired.

Hatch Act violations From December 2017 and April 2018, Patton used her government Twitter account to "like" partisan tweets; in 2019, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) determined that these actions violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits employees of the federal executive branch from engaging in certain political activities. The OSC issued Patton a warning letter in September 2019 for two violations of the Hatch Act; the office issued her a reprimand, but decided not to pursue disciplinary action. The OSC cleared Patton of two other alleged violations.

In 2020, Patton tricked four New Yorkers into appearing in a video that was broadcast during the final night of the 2020 Republican National Convention. Patton unexpectedly called the leader of a NYCHA tenants' association, telling them that she was interested in speaking with tenants about poor public housing conditions, and personally interviewed four tenants for four hours. The OSC issued a statement saying, "By using information and NYCHA connections available to her solely by virtue of her HUD position, Patton improperly harnessed the authority of her federal position to assist the Trump campaign in violation of the Hatch Act."

Trump 2024 campaign Patton was a senior advisor to the Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign.

Personal life Patton says she has struggled with substance abuse and addiction, and publicly praised the Trump family for standing by her through tough times.