Lawmakers Push Ethics Probe After Kellyanne Conway Encourages Fox News Viewers To Buy Ivanka Trump’s Stuff

In case you haven’t heard, Kellyanne Conway is in hot water for telling viewers on Fox News to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff.”

“Go buy Ivanka’s stuff, is what I would tell you,” Conway said during a conversation regarding Nordstrom and other stores dropping Ivanka’s fashion line. “It’s a wonderful line. I own some of it. I fully — I’m going to just, I’m going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.”

[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/t_BoIbgUSMo”]

She definitely made a big mistake and apologized for it. Despite the slip, President Trump continues to support her.

POTUS supports me, and millions of Americans support him & his agenda. https://t.co/FTaPXTymGV

— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) February 10, 2017

However, Conway’s not in the clear yet. Some say she violated federal ethics regulations, which prohibit 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.”

Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Rep. Elijah Cummings of the House Oversight Committee co-authored a letter, asking the Office of Government Ethics to review Conway’s comments.

“We request that you review Conway’s statement and act promptly on the basis of your findings,” they wrote. “We also ask you to report back to the committee with your recommendation for disciplinary action, if warranted.”

“As the director of OGE, you have the authority to review potential ethics violations and notify the employee’s agency, which in this case is the White House,” Chaffetz and Cummings wrote. “In this case, there is an additional challenge, which is that the president, as the ultimate disciplinary authority for White House employees, has an inherent conflict of interest since Conway’s statements relate to his daughter’s private business.”

 

“For this reason, we request that you use authority Congress granted you under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, as amended, to ‘recommend the head of the officer’s or employee’s agency that appropriate disciplinary action (such as reprimand, suspension, demotion, or dismissal) be brought against the officer or employee.”

On one hand, I want to cut Conway a little slack. She’s done so much great work for President Trump. It’d be a shame if a careless comment like that completely tanked her career. But on the other hand, it was wrong. If Hillary was president and her staffer told everyone to buy Chelsea’s stuff, we’d probably be really upset. So…I can see both sides here.

Your thoughts?