Screw the law... We're entitled!!!

[bostonangler]

Conway may have broken key ethics rule by touting Ivanka Trump’s products, experts say

(Jhaan Elker,Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)

 

February 9 at 11:43 AM

President Trump’s official counselor, Kellyanne Conway, may have broken a key ethics rule Thursday morning when she told TV audiences to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff.”

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

Conway, speaking to “Fox & Friends” viewers from the White House briefing room, was responding to boycotts of Ivanka Trump merchandise and Nordstrom’s discontinuation of stocking her clothing and shoe lines, which the retailer said was in response to low sales and which the president assailed as unfair.

“I’m going to give it a free commercial here,” Conway said of the president’s daughter’s merchandise brand. “Go buy it today.”

President Trump’s counselor Kellyanne Conway. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday that Conway “has been counseled,” but offered no other comment.

Conway and officials from the Office of Government Ethics did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Several attorneys, including former heads of federal agencies, said Conway’s endorsement directly conflicted with OGE 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. “She did this on television. She was very clear it was advertising. Hopefully at the very least they will acknowledge this is wrong.”

Don W. Fox, former general counsel and former acting director of OGE, told The Washington Post 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.”

He added: “This is jaw-dropping to me. This rule has been promulgated by the federal Office of Government Ethics as part of the Standards of Conduct for all executive branch employees and it applies to all members of the armed forces as well.”

Attorneys said a typical executive-branch employee who violated the rule could face significant disciplinary action, including a multi-day 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 OGE can advise the White House and Conway of the violation, conduct its own investigation and recommend that they consider disciplinary action.

But OGE’s recommendations are non-binding, and the ultimate decision resides with the White House.

Conway’s endorsement comes as the Trump administration faces growing scrutiny over whether it is taking fears of conflicts of interest seriously.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, wrote a letter Thursday to his Republican counterpart, Jason Chaffetz (Utah), calling on the committee to review Conway’s endorsement, calling it “a textbook violation of government ethics laws.”

Chaffetz, who before the election was a strong advocate of investigating Hillarious Clinton, said this week he would not likely abide by Democrats’ urging to investigate possible conflicts of interest surrounding Trump’s business interests.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington executive director Noah Bookbinder called Conway’s endorsement “just another example of what looks like a disturbing pattern of this administration acting to benefit the businesses of the president’s family and supporters.”

The president took to Twitter on Wednesday to lash out at Nordstrom for dropping Ivanka Trump’s line, saying his daughter had “been treated so unfairly” by the store.

politics

Said Peter Schweizer, who has worked closely with Trump aide Stephen K. Bannon and wrote the book “Clinton Cash,” which was critical of donations to the Clinton Foundation: “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.

“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’s time to move beyond the mind-set and the role of a businessman and assume the mantle of commander of chief.”

Conway’s endorsement of the Ivanka business also highlights an awkward reality for a White House threatening U.S. companies seeking to move jobs or operations overseas. Nearly all of Ivanka-brand merchandise is manufactured in low-cost-labor countries, including China, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Trump critics quickly seized on the endorsement. Robert Weissman, president of liberal advocacy group Public Citizen, said in a statement, “Conway’s self-proclaimed advertisement for the Ivanka Trump fashion line demonstrates again what anyone with common sense already knew: President Trump and the Trump administration will use the government apparatus to advance the interests of the family businesses.”

Trump last month tweeted his own support for another retailer, L. L. Bean, saying, “People will support you even more now. Buy L.L.Bean.” A company board member, Linda Bean, donated money to a pro-Trump super PAC. Lawyers said the federal ban on endorsements specifically exempts the president and vice president.

 

 

 

Are these people really this stupid????

 

B/A

[SgtFuryUSCZ]

THIS IS BOGUS.

IT'S NOT "IVANKA's STUFF"

Ivanka divested herself of her companies long ago.

No law broken.

morons.

[Shabibilicious]

I hope they cut her some slack.  Typical rookie mistake by Conway.  She doesn't know the rules, she's simply a pollster, not a politician......Maybe Ivanka will hook Kellyanne up with some of her magical anti-aging cream.  

GO RV, then BV

[bostonangler]

 

25 minutes ago, SgtFuryUSCZ said:

No law broken.

It doesn't matter who owns the company. It is illegal to endorse products. Kellyanne is supposed to be "brilliant"..... And yet she is confused... Let's face it we are doomed as a nation when our leaders can't understand simple endorsement laws.

47 minutes ago, bostonangler said:

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

[RV ME]

Asked about the controversy surrounding Conway’s comments, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said at Thursday’s briefing: “Kellyanne has been counseled and that’s all we’re going to go with.”

 I wonder if she was counseled as to how to go about setting up a charitable organization and take in hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign governments without any repercussions?

[SgtFuryUSCZ]

True, RV ME....   KILLary signed documents stating she understood the Regs... why wasn't SHE admonished,

or worse -  hung, drawn & quartered like the msm is doing to Ms. Conway...?

Double standard there much, lefty kommies...?

One was a fashion faux pas and the other the possible demise of Western Civilization.... WOW, shame on

you Kelly Ann !

Edited February 9, 2017 by SgtFuryUSCZ

[bostonangler]

24 minutes ago, RV ME said:

Asked about the controversy surrounding Conway’s comments, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said at Thursday’s briefing: “Kellyanne has been counseled and that’s all we’re going to go with.”

 

 I wonder if she was counseled as to how to go about setting up a charitable organization and take in hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign governments without any repercussions?

 

They are all crooks, but this endorsing products is so petty. At least the Clinton's were sophisticated crooks!!!

 

B/A

[SgtFuryUSCZ]

Compared to bringing down an entire Country..?  Yuh, pretty petty.

But ya wouldn't thinks so based on the msm attacks....

If only the msm would've done their job and gone after KILLary, LowRenta, barak, eric holder-the gun-runner and valerie like that....

sigh.....

Stopping their horrific, massive, destructive corruption would have been SO good for this Country AND the whole world.

But still, right....? Y'know --- the lefty kommies are calling for their pound of flesh outta you, Kelly Ann Conway ! !

gosh and gee Kelly Ann - shame on you, bad form... really.... just critical breakdown for humanity, really....

you should be fired, shot, then have your head put on a pike on the White House fence.....tsk, tsk, tsk.....

 

.

Edited February 9, 2017 by SgtFuryUSCZ

[RV ME]

17 minutes ago, bostonangler said:

They are all crooks, but this endorsing products is so petty. At least the Clinton's were sophisticated crooks!!!

 

B/A

They really aren’t sophisticated crooks any more than they are good liars.  If they were, they wouldn’t have been caught so many times. The problem is there are not enough of We the People demanding they be held accountable.  

But look at the shitstorm taking place over this petty issue like it is a high crime or misdemeanor and tell me it is proportionate to what Hildabeast encountered.

[SgtFuryUSCZ]

It's enough to make us barf, RV ME -- the clear bias is revolting.

watching the likes of BA jump on his little red soapbox every time a non-kommie Patriot sneezes is sickening.

[Theseus]

2 hours ago, Shabibilicious said:

I hope they cut her some slack.  Typical rookie mistake by Conway.  She doesn't know the rules, she's simply a pollster, not a politician......Maybe Ivanka will hook Kellyanne up with some of her magical anti-aging cream.  

GO RV, then BV

Maybe she has some disappearing cream too for those in need.

[SgtFuryUSCZ]

34 minutes ago, Theseus said:

Maybe she has some disappearing cream too for those in need.

Won't work on them.... that'll require garlic necklaces, wooden stakes and crucifixes....

[Shabibilicious]

14 hours ago, RV ME said:

They really aren’t sophisticated crooks any more than they are good liars.  If they were, they wouldn’t have been caught so many times. The problem is there are not enough of We the People demanding they be held accountable.  

But look at the shitstorm taking place over this petty issue like it is a high crime or misdemeanor and tell me it is proportionate to what Hildabeast encountered.

It's not proportionate......not even close.  If after 2 years the Left is still going after Kellyanne for this particular silly rookie mistake, then sustained "shitstorm" might be a relevant analogy.  As always, just my spot on opinion.  

GO RV, then BV

[Whatshername]

17 hours ago, RV ME said:

Asked about the controversy surrounding Conway’s comments, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said at Thursday’s briefing: “Kellyanne has been counseled and that’s all we’re going to go with.”

 

 I wonder if she was counseled as to how to go about setting up a charitable organization and take in hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign governments without any repercussions?

 

Exactly.

"... If Conway was a seasoned politician, she'd know she should be setting up "The Conway Foundation" and selling access to the White House in exchange for "million dollar birthday checks" and other donations from Saudi Arabia and Qatar..."

http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=56257

[bostonangler]

21 hours ago, RV ME said:

They really aren’t sophisticated crooks any more than they are good liars.  If they were, they wouldn’t have been caught so many times. The problem is there are not enough of We the People demanding they be held accountable.  

 

But look at the shitstorm taking place over this petty issue like it is a high crime or misdemeanor and tell me it is proportionate to what Hildabeast encountered.

 

Hey RV I hope all is well. They are all liars. My other thought on this is a bit more devious. What if they are making these "rookies" mistakes to distract the media while they work on other things... Just thinking out loud.

 

B/A

[SgtFuryUSCZ]

We hope they ARE working on "other things"... like how to round up all these violent kommie regressors paid by the kommie unions

who are rioting all over the place and assaulting hard working people like Betsy DeVos.

Or perhaps they're working on the flood of Applications they've received to increase the number of Immigration and Homeland Security

folks to round up all the illegals who need to be deported and likewise scoop up the Visa over-stay crowd....

Keep up the good work Team Trump !

You've got the lefties freaking out and turning into conspiratorial theorists !