Kellyanne Conway Potentially Violated Federal Ethics Laws by Telling Everyone to "Go Buy Ivanka's Stuff"

Kellyanne Conway once again found herself in the spotlight for questionable comments on Thursday, this time for potentially violating federal ethics laws.

While appearing on Fox & Friends on Thursday morning, Conway encouraged viewers to “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff,” referring to Ivanka Trump’s clothing line. The brand has been at the center of the latest controversy to hit the Trump administration ever since high-end retailers like Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus elected to stop selling Ivanka’s clothes, citing low sales, potentially driven by the #GrabYourWallet boycott. President Trump hit back, using the official @POTUS account to tweet that “My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by Nordstrom.” Trump’s comments were already raising some questions about conflicts of interest but Conway’s response on Fox’s morning show took things to a new level. “I’m going to give it a free commercial here,” Conway said of the brand. “Go buy it today.”

As The Cut reported, Conway’s comments appear to violate a law for federal employees that states that “An employee shall not use his public office for his own private gain, for 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.” According to Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Conway was being “counselled” after the incident.

Condemnation was relatively swift. The Associated Press reported that Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, called Conway’s words ““clearly over the line.” Don W. Fox, former general counsel and former acting director of the Office of Governmental Ethics, 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 went on to say that her words were “jaw-dropping.”

While the OGE can investigate the incident and make a recommendation about punishment for Conway’s ethics violation, enforcement of that punishment will be left to her employer, in this case, the White House. While she could theoretically face a multi-day suspension, loss of pay, or some other sort of disciplinary action, the Trump administration’s stance on conflicts of interests seems to suggest otherwise. “It’s time to move beyond the mind-set and the role of a businessman and assume the mantle of commander of chief,” author Peter Schweizer told The Washington Post. One can only hope.