Federal Ethics Office Rebukes White House For Failing To Discipline Kellyanne Conway Over Ivanka Products Plug

CNN reports:

The Office of Government Ethics isn’t happy with the White House’s decision not to punish top aide Kellyanne Conway for plugging Ivanka Trump’s products in a TV interview. OGE Director Walter Shaub told the White House in a letter Thursday that he remains concerned with Conway’s “misuse of position.”

The ethics office recommended discipline because federal rules prohibit executive branch employees from endorsing products. The White House concluded that she was speaking “in a light, off-hand manner while attempting to stand up for a person she believed had been unfairly treated.”

“Not taking disciplinary action against a senior official under such circumstances risks undermining the ethics program,” Shaub wrote to a White House lawyer. Shaub said he is also concerned about the White House’s “extraordinary” assertion that many OGE regulations don’t apply to the president’s staff.