Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to President Trump, said in an interview from the White House that people should \u00ab\u00a0go buy Ivanka’s stuff. \u00a0\u00bb
\n Conway made the plug Thursday in an interview with Fox News Channel, one day after the president attacked…<\/b>
Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to President Trump, said in an interview from the White House that people should \u00ab\u00a0go buy Ivanka’s stuff. \u00a0\u00bb
Conway made the plug Thursday in an interview with Fox News Channel, one day after the president attacked Nordstrom department stores for dropping his daughter’s fashion line.
\u00ab\u00a0This is a very successful businesswoman,\u00a0\u00bb Conway said, before offering statistics about how many stores sell Ivanka Trump merchandise and calling her a \u00ab\u00a0champion for women empowerment. \u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0Go buy Ivanka’s stuff, is what I would tell you,\u00a0\u00bb Conway said. \u00ab\u00a0It’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. \u00a0\u00bb
Federal law says that public employees may not use their positions \u00ab\u00a0for 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. \u00a0\u00bb
Larry Noble, the general counsel of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan organization of election law experts, said that in his opinion, Conway \u00ab\u00a0may have violated the law. \u00a0\u00bb
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Richard Painter, who served as chief ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, said he would not address whether any White House official was violating the law.
But he said public officials, when giving public speeches or TV interviews in an official capacity, may not promote the products of \u00ab\u00a0a particular private business belonging to the employee’s own family, the President’s family, a friend, a campaign contributor or anyone else. \u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0That was strictly forbidden in the Bush administration because it is illegal,\u00a0\u00bb he said.
Stan Brand, a former chief legal officer for the House of Representatives, said that Conway’s endorsement appeared to be \u00ab\u00a0technically a violation. \u00a0\u00bb
He suggested it was doubtful that any law enforcement official would pursue \u00ab\u00a0a single statement like this,\u00a0\u00bb but he said \u00ab\u00a0a pattern or practice of such conduct could become a problem. \u00a0\u00bb
Nordstrom said last week that it would no longer carry Ivanka Trump’s line of clothing and accessories because of \u00ab\u00a0brand performance. \u00a0\u00bb An online campaign called #GrabYourWallet has encouraged shoppers to boycott Ivanka Trump merchandise.
In addition, the company that owns TJ Maxx and Marshalls said that it recently sent a memo to workers instructing them not to highlight the Ivanka Trump brand in stores. It did not provide a reason for those instructions.
And the Belk department store chain said it plans to pull Ivanka Trump products from its website, but will continue to offer them in stores. Belk said the decision was a response to customer feedback.
On Wednesday, Trump tore into Nordstrom for mistreating his daughter.
\u00ab\u00a0My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible! \u00a0\u00bb he tweeted.
The message was retweeted by the official presidential Twitter account, @POTUS, and raised eyebrows among ethics lawyers.
Noble said the president’s tweet was \u00ab\u00a0totally out of line. \u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0He should not be promoting his daughter’s line, he should not be attacking a company that has business dealings with his daughter, and it just shows the massive amount of problems we have with his business holdings and his family’s business holdings,\u00a0\u00bb Noble said Wednesday.
The rules on endorsements by public officials exempt the president and vice president.
Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, defended the president’s use of the @POTUS handle to discuss his daughter’s business.
\u00ab\u00a0This was less about his family’s business and an attack on his daughter,\u00a0\u00bb he told reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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