Top Obama official: Conway broke law by promoting Ivanka’s clothing line

by Rebecca Savransky - 02/09/17 9:33 AM ET

A former top official under President Obama is accusing White House adviser Kellyanne Conway of breaking the law by telling people to buy Ivanka Trump’s clothing line in a TV interview.

Chris Lu, former deputy secretary of Labor, on Thursday tweeted a screenshot of the federal ethics law he believes Conway was breaking.

“This is the federal ethics law that @KellyannePolls just violated,” Lu tweeted, tagging the U.S. Office of Government Ethics and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

This is the federal ethics law that @KellyannePolls just violated
cc: @OfficeGovEthics @jasoninthehouse pic.twitter.com/EivJeFd7wY

— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) February 9, 2017

{mosads}Lu highlighted a portion which says: “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.”

The law applies to employees of an “agency,” which is defined as “an Executive department, a Government corporation, and an independent establishment.”

During an appearance Thursday on “Fox & Friends,” Conway promoted Trump’s line of clothing and accessories.

“Go buy Ivanka’s stuff, is what I would tell you,” Conway said. “I hate shopping but I’m going to go get some for myself today.”

“I’m going to give it a free commercial here, go buy it today,” she said.

President Trump on Wednesday lashed out at Nordstrom for dropping his daughter’s clothing line.

“My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!” he tweeted.

Nordstrom said Wednesday its decision to drop the clothing line was because of the brand’s performance.

Tags Jason Chaffetz