The White House on Thursday said a top adviser to President Trump had been “counseled” after using a television appearance from the West Wing to promote the clothing and jewelry line sold under the brand of Trump’s daughter.
The endorsement, in which Kellyanne Conway told Fox News Channel viewers to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff,” appeared to violate a key ethics rule barring federal employees from using their public office to endorse products. The White House reaction was a rare acknowledgment of an ethical misstep.
Conway’s remarks drew a sharp and unusual rebuke from a top Republican lawmaker, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who said Conway’s comments were “absolutely wrong, wrong, wrong” and “clearly over the line.”
Chaffetz, who has resisted calls by Democrats to investigate potential conflicts related to President Trump’s businesses, joined with the Oversight Committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), in sending a letter to the Office of Government Ethics calling Conway’s comments “unacceptable.” The letter asked the agency to recommend discipline given that Trump, who is Conway’s “agency head,” holds an “inherent conflict of interest” due to the involvement of his daughter’s business.
In a terse comment to reporters Thursday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Conway had been “counseled on the subject” but did not say whether she would be disciplined. Spicer did not say why Conway’s statements had required the intervention, and the White House declined to answer further questions.
President Trump’s counselor Kellyanne Conway at the White House on Jan .24. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
The incident was the latest illustration of how the Trump White House has struggled to grapple with long-established ethics rules as the president has attempted to balance the potentially competing interests of his new public position and his family’s vast business holdings.
The matter has grown politically thorny in recent weeks as many opponents of Trump’s policies have waged a campaign to boycott the family’s brands and protest at its properties. The tensions underscore the difficulty Trump faces in carrying through on his vow to separate his presidency from his businesses — particularly given that he and his daughter have refused to divest their ownership stakes.
The president has faced criticism from ethics experts and Democratic lawmakers who have warned that his public power could be misused to enrich him and his family. Trump has turned the management of his businesses over to his two adult sons and a longtime executive.
While Trump has said that most ethics laws and rules do not apply to the president, Conway’s stumble Thursday served as a reminder that staffers are nonetheless subject to those provisions.
The Conway episode followed other instances in which Trump’s political rise and his presidency have provided a promotional platform for the family businesses.
On Monday, first lady Melania Trump filed a lawsuit accusing a British news company of publishing an inaccurate story that hurt her ability to take advantage of a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to build her brand of jewelry and accessories. The lawsuit said that the August 2016 article, which falsely suggested Melania Trump had once worked for an escort service, damaged her ability to build “multimillion dollar business relationships for a multi-year term” and damaged her brand during a time when Trump “is one of the most photographed women in the world.”
Controversial comments from Kellyanne Conway that made headlines
View Photos Conway, counselor to President Trump, coined the term “alternative facts” and referred to a “Bowling Green massacre” that never happened.
A day later, after ethics experts criticized the notion of Melania Trump attempting to make money from her public role, her lawyer and a spokeswoman issued statements saying the first lady “has no intention” of using her position for profit.
The first family has struggled to cleanse its public appearances of private entanglements.
In his official White House online biography, Donald Trump boasts of the success of the business he still owns and cites his book “The Art of the Deal,” which remains for sale.
Melania Trump’s initial online biography referenced her jewelry line, once sold on the cable television channel QVC, and noted its trademark, a registration now overseen by a federal office led by her husband.
Ivanka Trump, whose brand includes dresses, shoes, skirts, handbags, jewelry and accessories, much of which is sold online and at dozens of the United States’ largest retailers and department-store chains, mixed her business and newly elevated political profile shortly after the election.
Hours after she was interviewed by “60 Minutes” about her father’s victory, her jewelry line alerted journalists to the fact that she was wearing an Ivanka-brand diamond bracelet, which viewers could buy for $10,800.
Conway’s endorsement of Ivanka Trump’s brand followed a tweet Wednesday by President Trump complaining that his daughter had “been treated so unfairly” by the department store Nordstrom, which dropped her clothing line, citing slow sales.
Conway touted Ivanka Trump’s “wonderful line” of clothing and shoes during an interview Thursday morning with “Fox & Friends” from the White House briefing room.
Responding to national boycotts of Ivanka Trump merchandise, Conway said, “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff is what I would tell you.”
“I’m going to give a free commercial here,” she added. “Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.”
Experts quickly seized on Conway’s remarks as a direct violation of Office of Government Ethics rules. Don W. Fox, a former OGE acting director and general counsel, said Conway’s statements were “jaw-dropping” and “a clear violation of rules prohibiting misuse of public office for anyone’s private gain.”
Peter Schweizer, who has worked closely with Trump chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon and wrote a book, “Clinton Cash,” that was critical of donations to the Clinton Foundation, said, “They’ve crossed a very, very important, bright line, and it’s not good.”
“To encourage Americans to buy goods from companies owned by the first family is totally out of bounds and needs to stop,” Schweizer added. “Clearly, the Trumps feel some of this is related to politics. But whether that’s true or not, these marketing battles need to be fought by Ivanka and her company. They cannot and should not be fought by government employees and the White House.”
Schweizer said it was time for Trump “to move beyond the mind-set and the role of a businessman and assume the mantle of commander in chief.”
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