Ethics watchdog rips Conway endorsement of Ivanka products

WASHINGTON — White House adviser Kellyanne Conway’s public endorsement of Ivanka Trump’s product line appears to be “a clear violation of the prohibition against misuse of position,” and she should be disciplined, the U.S. government’s chief ethics watchdog wrote this week in a letter to the White House.

Although President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, said last week that Conway “has been counseled” about her statement, the White House has not clarified what that means. Experts in government ethics say that typically, offenses like Conway’s would result in a letter of reprimand, though it could be grounds for termination. It is up to the head of each agency — in this case, the president — to determine the punishment.

The Office of Government Ethics “has not yet received notification of any disciplinary or other corrective action against Ms. Conway,” Walter Shaub Jr., director of the office, wrote in a letter to Stefan Passantino, the deputy counsel to the president who is the designated ethics officer at the White House. “There is strong reason to believe that Ms. Conway has violated the standards of conduct and that disciplinary action is warranted,” the letter said.

The ethics office’s letter adds to the troubles piling up on Conway. On Monday, she was dispatched to the television cameras to say that Michael Flynn, the national security adviser, had the full confidence of Trump, just hours before he resigned.

On Tuesday, she appeared to respond to criticism of her public performances, posting on Twitter that she serves at the pleasure of the president. “His message is my message. His goals are my goals. Uninformed chatter doesn’t matter,” she wrote.

Last week, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, called Conway’s endorsement of Ivanka Trump’s product line “wrong, wrong, wrong,” and he called on the ethics office to investigate.