Ivanka Trump Has Secured Her Own Office In The White House

Ivanka Trump has secured her own office in the West Wing and is going through the process of obtaining security clearance, even though she’s not one of her father’s official advisers.

She’s been heavily involved with her father’s presidency, meeting with foreign leaders (like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel). Still, many are worried about the potential ethics violations, but Ivanka’s attorney/ethics adviser, Jamie Gorelick, believes it’s fine as long as Ivanka follows the same ethics rules as official government employees.

 

Jamie Gorelick, an attorney and ethics adviser for Ivanka Trump, told the Associated Press Monday that the first daughter will not have an official title, but will get a West Wing office, government-issued communications devices and security clearance to access classified information. Gorelick said Ivanka Trump would follow the ethics rules that apply to government employees.

 

“Our view is that the conservative approach is for Ivanka to voluntarily comply with the rules that would apply if she were a government employee, even though she is not,” said Gorelick, who also helped Kushner with the legal strategy that led to his White House appointment. “The White House Counsel’s Office agrees with that approach.”

Fox News also cites a “person with knowledge of Ivanka Trump’s thinking,” who says Ivanka wants to remain on the outside as much as possible in order to offer her father a more “independent perspective.”

A person with knowledge of Ivanka Trump’s thinking, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations, said she believes she can offer more independent perspective to her father by not serving as a White House staffer.

What do you think? As long as she continues to distance herself from her business interests and operates under the same rules as an official government employee, is this OK? Should President Trump just make her an official employee? Or is it wrong either way?

Discuss.