‘Jaw-Dropping’: Experts Agree – Kellyanne Conway’s ‘Free Commercial’ for Ivanka a ‘Clear Violation’ of Ethics

‘Government Regulations Have the Full Force of Law’

Kellyann Conway’s “free commercial” for Ivanka Trump’s clothing and accessories line has legal and ethics experts reeling. Speaking from the White House, with the official White House logo and the American flag behind her, the White House Counselor to the President appeared on Fox News Thursday morning and told viewers to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff.” In case there were any doubt of her intentions, Conway added she was giving the president’s daughter a “free commercial,” and said, “Go buy it today.” 

Experts, including former Deputy Secretary of Labor Chris Lu, a Harvard Law grad, tweeted Conway had “violated” a federal ethics law, citing § 2635.702 Use of public office for private gain.

It reads, in part:

An employee shall not use his public office for his own private gain, for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise, or for the private gain of friends, relatives, or persons with whom the employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity, including nonprofit organizations of which the employee is an officer or member, and persons with whom the employee has or seeks employment or business relations.

Calling Conway’s actions called Conway’s actions “jaw-dropping,” former general counsel and former acting director of the Office of Government Ethics Don W. Fox told The Washington Post that her “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.”

He noted that the OGE rule applies to “all executive branch employees and it applies to all members of the armed forces as well.”

The Post also reports that Campaign Legal Center general counsel Lawrence Noble “said Conway’s endorsement directly conflicted with OGE rules designed to separate government policy from private business dealings.”

Former White House ethics and transparency czar Norm Eisen, as Raw Story reports, on MSNBC Thursday called Conway’s comments an “ad,” and said, “it’s a violation of the rules, pure and simple.” He added, “I have never seen anything like it.”

“I imagine that you are going to see complaints flowing in,” Eisen said. “The responsibility to oversee this in the first instance is with the White House counsel, Don McGahn. He’s going to need to look at the rules, look at the precedents and decide what range of penalties might apply.”