The federal government’s top ethics regulator said he’s concerned that the White House has opted not to discipline Kellyanne Conway over the presidential adviser’s on-air promotion of first daughter Ivanka Trump’s clothing line. Additionally, Shaub said he was alarmed that White House lawyers have argued that many ethics rules aren’t applicable to people working for the president. Shaub said Conway, who was Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, violated federal rules that bar White House employees from using their official positions to endorse specific products and services. “The president’s staff need to follow ethics rules — not flout them,” Cummings wrote in a letter to White House counsel Don McGahn. “I wasn’t aware of any prior White House counsel asserting that the government ethics rules that apply across the executive branch don’t apply to White House employees,” Clark said.

Source: National Post March 10, 2017 19:07 UTC