Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, promoted Ivanka Trump’s fashion line “inadvertently” and “without nefarious motive,” the White House concluded in a letter to the Office of Government Ethics.
“Upon completion of our inquiry, we concluded that Ms. Conway acted inadvertently and is highly unlikely to do so again,” Stefan C. Passantino, a White House deputy counsel for compliance and ethics, wrote in the letter to the watchdog. “It is noted that Ms. Conway made the statement in question in a light, off-hand manner while attempting to stand up for a person she believed had been unfairly treated and did so without nefarious motive or intent to benefit personally.”
Conway had suggested during a Feb. 9 interview with Fox News that critics of Ivanka Trump should buy products from the first daughter’s fashion line, which Nordstrom’s had recently pulled from its shelves amid pressure from protest groups. Democrats quickly seized on Conway’s comments as evidence of the conflicts of interest created by the Trump family’s sprawling business interests, and the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee even agreed that an ethics review of the dust-up was necessary.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Conway had been “counseled” shortly after what she had described as the “free commercial” for Ivanka Trump’s fashion line, and Passantino’s letter to the Office of Government Ethics confirmed that staff had reviewed ethics standards with Conway following her controversial statements.
“Ms. Conway has acknowledged her understanding of the standards and has reiterated her commitment to abiding by them in the future,” the letter said.
The letter was first obtained by CNN.
