February 9, 2017

Did Kellyanne Conway Just Break Federal Ethics Rules by Promoting Ivanka Trump’s Clothing Line?

Experts say the top Trump aide went too far.


Update, 12:47 p.m.: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which is chaired by Norm Eisen, has filed an ethics complaint calling for an investigation into Conway’s remarks.

Ethics lawyers are alleging that a top White House aide may have broken federal ethics rules Thursday when she urged Fox News viewers to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff.” Kellyanne Conway, who serves as a counselor to President Donald Trump, made the remarks while defending a tweet that Trump published Wednesday attacking Nordstrom for dropping his daughter’s fashion line. (The president and members of his administration claim the department store’s move was politically motivated.)

“Go buy Ivanka’s stuff is what I would tell you,” Conway said during an appearance on Fox & Friends. “I hate shopping, but I’m going to get some myself today.” She later added, “It’s a wonderful line. I own some of it. I’m going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.”

The comments sparked immediate criticism from prominent ethics experts, including Campaign Legal Center general counsel Lawrence Noble and Norm Eisen, the former chief White House ethics lawyer under Barack Obama. They suggested Conway’s statements may have violated a regulation prohibiting federal employees from using their government positions “to endorse any product, service or enterprise.”

The controversy follows a similar firestorm on Wednesday, when Trump accused Nordstrom of treating his daughter “unfairly” by announcing it would stop carrying her clothing line. The department store company, however, has cited what it said were declining sales as the reason for its decision.

“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,” Peter Schweizer, the author of Clinton Cash, told the Washington Post. “They cannot and should not be fought by government employees and the White House. It’s time to move beyond the mind-set and the role of a businessman and assume the mantle of commander of chief.”

When asked about the president’s tweet Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer condemned Nordstrom’s announcement as a “direct attack” on the president.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Conway’s remarks.

This story has been revised.

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate