White House: Trump adviser Conway 'counseled' after Ivanka pitch

Kellyanne Conway.
Kellyanne Conway.

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's official counselor, Kellyanne Conway, was "counseled" after she told TV audiences to "go buy Ivanka's stuff," the White House said Thursday.

Legal experts said Conway had broken a key ethics law banning federal employees from using their public office to endorse products. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday that Conway "has been counseled" but offered no other comment.

But House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said that's not enough, calling what Conway did "wrong, wrong, wrong, clearly over the line, unacceptable."

The Utah Republican congressman and the Democratic leader on the committee, Elijah Cummings of Maryland, jointly asked the Office of Government Ethics to review the matter.

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Federal law bans employees from using their public office to endorse products.

Chaffetz also said he will write a formal letter to the White House lodging his irritation.

"It needs to be dealt with," he said in an interview.

Speaking later to Utah lawmakers, Chaffetz added: "Of course I'm going to call that out. My job is not to be a cheerleader for the president."

The White House said later Thursday that Trump "absolutely" continues to support Conway.

The White House said Trump didn't see Conway's interview on Fox News. But a spokesman said Trump "understands she was merely sticking up for a wonderful woman who she has great respect for and felt was treated unfairly."

In an interview later Thursday evening on Fox, Conway declined to discuss the case but said she had spoken with Trump and "he supports me 100 percent."

The ethics dust-up began Wednesday with the president himself.

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Reacting to news that a department store had dropped his daughter's line of clothing and accessories because of low sales, Trump tweeted -- and retweeted from the official presidential account -- that Ivanka Trump had been treated "so unfairly by Nordstrom."

Spicer said Wednesday that Trump was responding to an "attack on his daughter" when he posted the tweet and that "he has every right to stand up for his family and applaud their business activities, their success."

Nordstrom reiterated Wednesday that its decision to drop Ivanka Trump's brand was based on its performance, not politics.

Conway, speaking to Fox & Friends viewers Thursday morning from the White House briefing room, was responding to boycotts of the merchandise.

"I'm going to give it a free commercial here," Conway said of the president's daughter's clothing and shoe lines. "Go buy it today."

While Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are not subject to ethical regulations and laws for federal employees, Conway, who is a counselor to the president, is. Among the rules: An employee shall not use his or her office "for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise."

Officials from the Office of Government Ethics did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Ivanka Trump does not have a specific role in the White House but moved to Washington with her husband, Jared Kushner, who is one of Trump's closest advisers.

Several attorneys, including former heads of federal agencies, said Conway's endorsement directly conflicted with government ethics rules designed to separate government policy from private business dealings.

"I don't see what their defense is," said Campaign Legal Center general counsel Lawrence Noble, who is also former counsel for the Federal Election Commission.

Don Fox, former general counsel and former acting director of the Office of Government Ethics, said that "Conway's encouragement to buy Ivanka's stuff would seem to be a clear violation of rules prohibiting misuse of public office for anyone's private gain."

Attorneys said a typical executive-branch employee who violated the rule could face significant disciplinary action, including a multiday suspension and loss of pay.

Enforcement measures are largely left to the head of the federal agency -- in Conway's case, the White House.

Federal law states the director of the Office of Government Ethics can advise the White House and Conway of the violation, conduct its own investigation and recommend that they consider disciplinary action.

But the ethics office's recommendations are nonbinding, and the ultimate decision resides with the White House.

Information for this article was contributed by Drew Harwell, Tom Hamburger and Rosalind S. Helderman of The Washington Post and by Julie Bykowicz, Bernard Condon and staff members of The Associated Press.

A Section on 02/10/2017





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