White House press secretary Sarah Sanders’ tweet on being thrown out of a Virginia restaurant violates federal ethics laws, according to a former ethics chief.
Walter Shaub, the former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, chided Sanders for her tweet on Saturday. Sanders tweeted that the owner of the Red Hen in Lexington, Va., told her and her party to leave because they disagreed with President Trump.
[Also read: Washington Post joins call for civility after Sarah Sanders kicked out of restaurant]
Sarah, I know you don’t care even a tiny little bit about the ethics rules, but using your official account for this is a clear violation of 5 CFR 2635.702(a). It’s the same as if an ATF agent pulled out his badge when a restaurant tried to throw him/her out. https://t.co/Fj6OfBAdew
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) June 23, 2018
Schaub took umbrage with Sanders using her official Twitter account to bash the restaurant and owner.
“Sarah, I know you don’t care even a tiny little bit about ethics rules, but using your official account for this is a clear violation of 5 CFR 2635.702(a),” he tweeted. “It’s the same as if an ATF agent pulled out his badge when a restaurant tried to throw him/her out.”
The regulation Schaub is referring to states that a public official cannot use their office for private gain.
This isn’t the first time Schaub, who ran the ethics office from 2013 to 2017, has pointed out ethics problems with White House officials.
He has filed multiple complaints against White House counselor Kellyanne Conway for violating the Hatch Act, which prevents federal officials from campaigning for or against political candidates.
