Kellyanne Conway, a senior advisor to President Trump, has recently come under fire for statements made to the press after the election. She has been known for defending Press Secretary Sean Spicer for his "alternative news," and even discussing a terrorist attack known as the "Bowling Green Massacre" (which never even happened) to defend the president's Muslim-ban. Either way, she is one of the public faces of the White House and has been criticized for the way she has handled many of her public appearances. Her most recent error has accompanied a burst of outrage from many individuals. Ranging from average American citizens to lawyers, all the way up members of various ethics committees, she has been accused of openly breaking ethics laws that prevent the misuse of a government official's power.
In a recent interview with Fox News, Conway began urging shoppers to buy products from Ivanka Trump's clothing brand. This is due to several companies, including Nordstrom, dropping her line due to "poor sales." These poor sales might have been caused by boycotters that belong to the #grabyourwallet campaign. This movement started in October shortly after the Trump tapes were released. The hashtag and movement became quite popular and was released with a list of companies and organizations that have either supported Trump's political campaign or they carry a Trump family member's products. Nordstrom was one company on the list until February 3rd, when they announced that they were cutting ties with Ivanka Trump. The company decided to keep the remaining items from Ivanka's line and to sell what was left.
POTUS was upset when he heard Nordstrom's announcement, and tweeted later, "My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!" His press secretary Sean Spicer came out and said that the tweet was referring to "an attack on his daughter," rather than about business in general. He expressed annoyance at the idea that people protesting the president's actions by taking it out on his family members. This could be seen as lashing out at Nordstrom for dropping Ivanka's line, especially since after the Muslim-ban was announced, they released a statement saying that would support those affected and continue to value immigrants.
Nordstrom continues to defend its actions, stating that Ivanka's line has been doing poorly for about a year, and it didn't make sense to continue to sell it. A Forbes contributor, Mark A. Cohen, shared a comment that helps explain Nordstrom's decision. "Trump stuff, as well as his reality show, were very popular at the outset, like many celebrity rollouts, but then fizzled. Similarly, his daughter's merchandise was well-received at the outset then it all died. No sell-throughs equals no support for her line."
The president's Twitter statement shows that he has multiple conflicts of interest involving his family's business interests. He still refuses to sell his assets, or put them into a blind trust, even though it's what the ethics committee has requested. Robert Weissman, the president of Public Citizen (a group that promotes government ethics) stated, "He has committed to severing himself from the family business operations. That is obviously not the case."
POTUS is not the only one crossing ethical boundaries. When Conway publicly endorsed Ivanka Trump's line, telling everyone to go buy her clothes, she went over the line. A federal ethic rule states that "an employee of the government's executive branch cannot use public office for personal gain or to endorse products or services on behalf of friends or relatives." This is unfortunately exactly what she did during this statement. After the statement, Spicer gave another conference saying that Conway was "counseled," refusing to elaborate what that actually meant. Later, Conway tweeted that after a meeting with the president, he continued to support her.
Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter to the US Office of Government Ethics to ask whether disciplinary action was necessary. This adds another complication as the person in charge of disciplining Conway is President Trump himself. This would add a conflict of interest since her statements are directly tied to his daughter's private business.
The first portion of Trump's First 100 Days have been filled with countless ethical issues already, and there will certainly be more. Unless the government officials involved with such problems are addressed and educated, there will be no end to it.
