Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden wants an ethics probe into Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s lighthearted endorsement of the “Lego Batman” movie, which his company produced.
“The American people deserve to know whether Secretary Mnuchin violated his promise to sever financial ties with Hollywood or if he’s instead using the government to increase his own bottom line,” the Oregon Democrat said in a statement released Monday afternoon.
Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said Mnuchin’s comments on the movie “signal a blatant disregard and disrespect to the office he serves and the power it holds.”
On Friday, Mnuchin told an audience at an interview hosted by the publication Axios to “send all your kids to ‘Lego Batman.'”
Just before he said that, Mnuchin said, “I’m not allowed to promote anything that I’m involved in. So I just wanted to have the legal disclosure — you’ve asked me the question and I’m not promoting any product.”
Nevertheless, Wyden wasn’t impressed with that disclaimer and on Monday sent a letter asking Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub to review Mnuchin’s remarks.
Wyden drew attention to the fact that Ratpac-Dune Entertainment, a company Mnuchin founded, produced the movie. Mnuchin has not yet confirmed with the committee that he has divested from the company, and even if he had, he would have likely run afoul of his ethics agreement in publicly endorsing its products.
Aside from the potential conflict of interest, however, administration officials are not supposed to endorse specific products.
Previously, the ethics office said Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway misused her public position by telling viewers to buy from Ivanka Trump’s product line in a television interview.
This post has been updated to correct Mnuchin’s ties to Ratpac-Dune Entertainment.
