Trump adviser Conway draws ethics complaints for touting Ivanka Trump products

[webfact]

Trump adviser Conway draws ethics complaints for touting Ivanka Trump products

By Susan Heavey

REUTERS

 

White House advisor Kellyanne Conway listens as U.S. President Donald Trump meets with county sheriffs at the White House in Washington, U.S. February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway drew sharp criticism from a top Republican lawmaker and complaints on Thursday over the ethics of using her position to promote product lines of President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka, a day after he attacked a retailer for dropping them.

 

Federal ethics rules prohibit executive branch employees from using their positions to endorse products or for the private gain of friends. The law does not apply to the president.

 

"Go buy Ivanka's stuff ... I'm going to go get some myself today," Conway told Fox News in an interview from the White House. "I'm going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today, everybody."

 

Republican Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight committee, told The Associated Press Conway's promotion of the brand was "clearly over the line, unacceptable."

 

Chaffetz spokeswoman M.J. Henshaw confirmed his comments.

 

The non-profit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Public Citizen filed complaints with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and the White House Counsel's Office.

 

"It's a violation of the rule," Norman Eisen, who served as an ethics adviser to Democratic President Barack Obama, told MSNBC. "It's a serious matter."

 

The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Elijah Cummings, called on the committee to refer the matter to the OGE for potential disciplinary action.

 

The OGE did not respond to requests for comment.

 

Chaffetz said that he and Cummings were going to send a joint letter to the White House and the OGE, according to a tweet by NBC News' Capitol Hill producer.

 

"That was wrong, wrong, wrong. It is wholly unacceptable no if, ands or buts about it," Chaffetz said of Conway's comments, according to the NBC producer.

 

NBC reported that Chaffetz said, "It should have never happened and they better learn this lesson very quick." He said he was not sure what the remedy was or if his committee would have a hearing looking into the matter, but this letter and referral "is a first step."

 

Asked at a press briefing on Thursday if Conway had crossed an ethical line, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, "She has been counselled on that subject, and that's it."

 

On Wednesday, President Trump attacked department store chain Nordstrom Inc <JWN.N> for dropping his daughter's products, drawing intense criticism for using a White House twitter platform to intervene in a commercial matter involving his family's business ties.

 

Ivanka Trump had said she would step away from her company when her father took office in the White House.

 

Retailers that have dropped Ivanka Trump products include Neiman Marcus [NMRCUS.UL] and HSN Inc <HSNI.O>.

 

An ongoing campaign called #GrabYourWallet encourages shoppers to boycott products with ties to President Trump and his family. Supporters have launched an alternative social media campaign called #BuyIvanka.

 

President Trump has pledged to ensure that products sold in America are actually manufactured on U.S. soil, but a New York Times report in December found that many of Ivanka Trump branded products were made in China, Indonesia and Vietnam.

 

Ivanka Trump's company declined to comment where her goods were manufactured.

 

(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Cornwell in Washington, Angela Moon in New York; editing by Toni Reinhold and Bernard Orr)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-02-10

[Credo]

Amateur hour at the White House.   The Trumps are going to have to learn they can't have it all.   They will have to decide what they want to do, like most of normal people.   Does he want to govern, or does he want to conduct business?   

 

 

[Emster23]

24 minutes ago, Credo said:

Amateur hour at the White House.   The Trumps are going to have to learn they can't have it all.   They will have to decide what they want to do, like most of normal people.   Does he want to govern, or does he want to conduct business?   

 

 

His supporters did say he would run government like a business, and that was a good thing in their eyes. "That was wrong, wrong, wrong. It is wholly unacceptable no if, ands or buts about it," Chaffetz said..." And he's a Republican. Now just what are they going to do about it?

[hdkane]

I recall when clinton sold access to the lincoln bedroom, basically using the white house as a bed and breakfast for the powerful...for some people there is never enough money or power...

[Silurian]

This is just the beginning folks. Better get used to the Trump White House doing whatever they want. They control two of the three branches of government and soon with their SCOTUS choice they will control all three. When he replaces an additional 1 to 2 SCOTUS members his hold on the USA will be with an Iron Fist. 

 

They will rewrite the ethics rules and spit in anyone faces that disagrees with it. Soon Trump will be able to whip out his member on TV and say "suck on this" to all the haters and there won't be anything anyone will be able to do about it. It was and will be always about Trump and his lot.

 

Oh, and it will be at least eight years of this fraudulent POTUS as Sessions and his team will destroy voting rights in every way possible. In seven years, I can foresee the overturning of the 22nd Amendment, heck why not.

[lannarebirth]

1 hour ago, Credo said:

Amateur hour at the White House.   The Trumps are going to have to learn they can't have it all.   They will have to decide what they want to do, like most of normal people.   Does he want to govern, or does he want to conduct business?   

 

 

 

They're doing it all wrong. Follow the masters at it, the Clintons. I see their Clinton Global Initiative and the son in laws hedge fund have had to close down now, what with no influence to peddle.

[rijb]

12 minutes ago, Silurian said:

This is just the beginning folks. Better get used to the Trump White House doing whatever they want. They control two of the three branches of government and soon with their SCOTUS choice they will control all three. When he replaces an additional 1 to 2 SCOTUS members his hold on the USA will be with an Iron Fist. 

 

They will rewrite the ethics rules and spit in anyone faces that disagrees with it. Soon Trump will be able to whip out his member on TV and say "suck on this" to all the haters and there won't be anything anyone will be able to do about it. It was and will be always about Trump and his lot.

 

Oh, and it will be at least eight years of this fraudulent POTUS as Sessions and his team will destroy voting rights in every way possible. In seven years, I can foresee the overturning of the 22nd Amendment, heck why not.

Lots of fear mongering over a few ugly handbags. 

[craigt3365]

She violated a federal law and should be fired.  She knew what she was doing.  Luckily, many are pursuing this.  Let's hope they prevail.

[Credo]

13 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

They're doing it all wrong. Follow the masters at it, the Clintons. I see their Clinton Global Initiative and the son in laws hedge fund have had to close down now, what with no influence to peddle.

The Clintons did not profit from the Initiative, but thousands a people throughout the world did.  With the Trumps they, and only they, profit.   

[rijb]

5 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

She violated a federal law and should be fired.  She knew what she was doing.  Luckily, many are pursuing this.  Let's hope they prevail.

I'm curious.  Who has the authority to fire her, besides Trump?

[ilostmypassword]

43 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

They're doing it all wrong. Follow the masters at it, the Clintons. I see their Clinton Global Initiative and the son in laws hedge fund have had to close down now, what with no influence to peddle.

The Clinton Global Initiative is a charity that gets the highest ratings from independent ratings organization. Their son-in-law's hedge fund has been on the decline for several years now.

[DriveByTrucker]

30 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

They're doing it all wrong. Follow the masters at it, the Clintons. I see their Clinton Global Initiative and the son in laws hedge fund have had to close down now, what with no influence to peddle.

Really funny, these people who still bring up the Clintons to defend the next stupidity of the orange freak. Funny for a few reasons; first they still dont seem to understand that the progressives here at TV are no fans of the Clintons at all (most can't care less what you and you cronies have to say about them), and secondly, justifying anything illegal this administration does with a remark about an action of the Clintons means that either you agree that the action of the orange freak are illegal, or you think the orange freak is not doing anything illegal and thus by comparing it to and action of the Clintons you indicate that their actions were legal too. Ponder over it for a while and you'll understand, can't wait for your next post about the Clintons.....

[craigt3365]

31 minutes ago, rijb said:

I'm curious.  Who has the authority to fire her, besides Trump?

Excellent question!  Here's some info, but would love to hear from others regarding this.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/09/news/kellyanne-conway-ivanka-brand/index.html
 

Quote

 

The ethics office stressed that it does not have enforcement power, like Congress or the FBI. When it learns of possible ethics violations, it said, it contacts the relevant agency and provides guidance

.......

He suggested it was doubtful that any law enforcement official would pursue "a single statement like this," but he said "a pattern or practice of such conduct could become a problem."

 

 

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/09/news/office-government-ethics-kellyanne-conway/index.html?iid=EL

 

Let's hope something comes of this.  It seems the administration is just working together to make Trump more money.

[Silurian]

53 minutes ago, rijb said:

Lots of fear mongering over a few ugly handbags. 

 

Yep, so easy to be dismissive. Trump and his lot are definitely going to profit from his position and they absolutely don't care.

 

White House leans into Trump Inc.

The president and his family are showing little concern about the appearance they’re profiting off the presidency.

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-business-family-234874

 

[Opl]

1 hour ago, lannarebirth said:

 

They're doing it all wrong. Follow the masters at it, the Clintons. I see their Clinton Global Initiative and the son in laws hedge fund have had to close down now, what with no influence to peddle.

They are doing all wrong.... 

  " "Go buy Ivanka's stuff, is what I would tell you," Conway said. "It's a wonderful line. I own some of it. I fully -- I'm going to just, I'm going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online." ( Conway) ,

" Buy American" " “Look at what China is doing to our country in terms of making our products,” ( Trump)

“We have to stop our jobs from being stolen from us.” (Trump)

Edited February 10, 2017 by Opl

[lannarebirth]

47 minutes ago, Credo said:

The Clintons did not profit from the Initiative, but thousands a people throughout the world did.  With the Trumps they, and only they, profit.   

The initiative was one of the the ancillary support schemes for what his booker  Douglas Band termed "Bill Clinton Inc.". Yeah, whatever.

[lannarebirth]

19 minutes ago, DriveByTrucker said:

Really funny, these people who still bring up the Clintons to defend the next stupidity of the orange freak. Funny for a few reasons; first they still dont seem to understand that the progressives here at TV are no fans of the Clintons at all (most can't care less what you and you cronies have to say about them), and secondly, justifying anything illegal this administration does with a remark about an action of the Clintons means that either you agree that the action of the orange freak are illegal, or you think the orange freak is not doing anything illegal and thus by comparing it to and action of the Clintons you indicate that their actions were legal too. Ponder over it for a while and you'll understand, can't wait for your next post about the Clintons.....

I'm not defending Trump. Can't stand the guy, or the Clintons either for that matter. I just like to pop in once in a while to mock the idiots that defend either one, like Pavlov's  salivating dogs, 

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, Credo said:

Amateur hour at the White House.   The Trumps are going to have to learn they can't have it all.   They will have to decide what they want to do, like most of normal people.   Does he want to govern, or does he want to conduct business?   

 

 

 

Good comment, how about getting on with running the country for all Americans instead of total focus on yourself. Seems like your still in reality TV mode, making sure everybody knows who owns the camera with the self proclaimed star center stage and beligerant for TV ratings effect.

Edited February 10, 2017 by scorecard

[mtls2005]

The Kellyanne Conway - Ethics Venn Diagram does not overlap, in case there was any doubt.

 

I guess her husband is up for Solicitor General.

 

Yikes, the stuff you find when you drain the swamp.

[craigt3365]

3 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

The Kellyanne Conway - Ethics Venn Diagram does not overlap, in case there was any doubt.

 

I guess her husband is up for Solicitor General.

 

Yikes, the stuff you find when you drain the swamp.

Excellent point.  I thought Trump was going to drain the swamp.  He's making it worse.  Another campaign promise broken.

[Tawan Dok Krating Daeng]

In terms of pop psychology, Conway is the type of person known as an Enabler. This is why her boss will not fire her. His vanity survives on people like this.

 

I regard Conway with the same contempt as she extends to the other branches of the US Government, the news media and to the thinking voter or member of the public. I find it difficult to smile when watching her act as with that befuddled mouthpiece Spicer and his prima donna act. The only good thing really is that the incompetence of the WH staff in matching the incompetence of 45 himself may hasten the shift of enough Republican Members to enable impeachment to be launched as the Office of the Presidency gets further tarnished and diminished by ideologically based over-reach, disrespect for others and flat out incompetence.

 

It's only been 3 weeks and the Clown Car just never stops.

 

I do believe that SNL should cast a Trans person to portray Conway even though I do agree that casting women to portray all the so-called 'men' in the WH is an appropriate move.

[elgordo38]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The law does not apply to the president.

Seems the law needs a bit of reworking. 

[Baerboxer]

4 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

 

They're doing it all wrong. Follow the masters at it, the Clintons. I see their Clinton Global Initiative and the son in laws hedge fund have had to close down now, what with no influence to peddle.

 

Ouch! That must hurt them. No more big cash handouts from the Saudi and German governments.

 

Not that Mrs. Clinton would have allowed any of that to influence her of course 

 

Trump has to learn how to lie convincingly. He's to open and brash. You have to be PC to get away with anything by supporting all the PC fashionable ideas. Then you're fine to do whatever you like.

[elgordo38]

3 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

I'm not defending Trump. Can't stand the guy, or the Clintons either for that matter. I just like to pop in once in a while to mock the idiots that defend either one, like Pavlov's  salivating dogs, 

With over 13,000 post your no stranger. Pop in more often. Its been one of those days. 

[Baerboxer]

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

Excellent point.  I thought Trump was going to drain the swamp.  He's making it worse.  Another campaign promise broken.

 

He's draining it of Clinton lackeys, establishment lackeys, and politically correct liberal lackeys.

 

Just that he's replacing them with his own lackeys! He never said he wouldn't !!

[Baerboxer]

3 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

I'm not defending Trump. Can't stand the guy, or the Clintons either for that matter. I just like to pop in once in a while to mock the idiots that defend either one, like Pavlov's  salivating dogs, 

 

What a great choice the poor American public had in those 2! No wonder nearly 50% didn't bother voting.

[NeilSA1]

"  President Trump attacked department store chain Nordstrom Inc <JWN.N> for dropping his daughter's products, "

 

                This speaks volumes.           Poor America, and this is only the beginning...

[rijb]

5 hours ago, Silurian said:

 

Yep, so easy to be dismissive. Trump and his lot are definitely going to profit from his position and they absolutely don't care.

 

White House leans into Trump Inc.

The president and his family are showing little concern about the appearance they’re profiting off the presidency.

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-business-family-234874

 

I agree.  Trump and his family should do a better job of hiding their profiteering.  

 

They should mimic the crooks in Congress (who tried to do away with their own independent ethics office).

[rijb]

1 hour ago, NeilSA1 said:

"  President Trump attacked department store chain Nordstrom Inc <JWN.N> for dropping his daughter's products, "

 

                This speaks volumes.           Poor America, and this is only the beginning...

Don't worry about America.  There are plenty of cheap handbags on the market.

[Enoon]

 

In the image conscious world of politics it might be a good idea for the advisor to take some advice.

 

First off, try not looking like you've just finished shooting an "Old 'n Young" video.

 

Or maybe that works for the Trump demographic?

 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2017 by Enoon