Ivanka Trump Possibly Violates Government Ethics Rule By Endorsing Goya

Boycott of Goya Foods promoted for flattery to Trump 1:34

(CNN) - The White House adviser and daughter of President Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, may have violated a government ethics rule when he posted a photo of her holding a can of black beans on Tuesday night.

"If it's Goya, it has to be good," he wrote in English and Spanish as a message accompanying the photo, showing canned beans in the style of popular presenter Vanna White, and added the translation of the phrase into Spanish.

If it's Goya, it has to be good.
If it's Goya, it has to be good. pic.twitter.com/9tjVrfmo9z

- Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) July 15, 2020

The post came in response to boycotts of the brand and outrage on social media by consumers and some Hispanic leaders after company CEO Robert Unanue praised President Donald Trump at an event in the Rose Garden at the White House last week.

"We are all truly blessed ... to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder," said Unanue. “We have an amazing builder, and we pray. We pray for our leadership, our president, "he added.

Unanue echoed the comments in a Friday interview, in which he told Fox News that he was not apologizing and called the subsequent boycott movement "suppression of speech."

Goya is the largest private Hispanic company in the country. It is unclear how calls for a boycott have impacted business, but the president said in a tweet Wednesday morning that Goya "is doing GREAT."

"The Radical Left defamation machine failed, people are buying like crazy!" Trump tweeted.

• READ: Opinion | What Goya just said to Latinos with the comments of his president

However, her daughter and West Wing adviser may have violated a federal ethics rule with her message. The United States Government Ethics Office, whose objective is "to prevent conflicts of interest in the executive branch", has guidelines on accessions by officials.

"Executive branch employees cannot use their positions in government to suggest that the agency or any part of the executive branch endorses an organization (including a non-profit organization), product, service, or person," the directive says. the office.

A Trump spokeswoman defended the publication, which she said showed "personal support" for the brand, and criticized the media and the "movement to cancel culture."

"Ivanka is proud of this strong Hispanic-owned business with deep roots in the United States and has every right to express her personal support," White House spokeswoman Carolina Hurley said in a statement.

Ex-director of the Government Ethics Office Walter Shaub says yes, that "Goya's tweet was a violation of ethics."

Shaub noted in a series of tweets on Wednesday that despite the fact that Trump's Twitter and Instagram accounts contain disclaimers stating that they are personal pages, it is “a bad idea to include your title in the biography because it is a factor that weighs in favor of finding that a rape happened. ” "If, as Ivanka Trump does, you use a personal social media account to promote official government activities, that is another factor," he added.

“If you promote the company's product in an obvious response to the backlash the company is facing from the CEO's remarks about your father-president, you knowingly link your account in people's minds to your official activities; you create the appearance of official approval, ”he explained.

The ethics expert concluded that there is a "strong appearance" in this situation that Trump was endorsing the product in its official capacity and is clearly in violation of the misuse of position regulation.

• READ: OPINION | Goya, praise and boycott

Virginia Canter, the chief ethics adviser for the CREW watchdog group, Citizens for Accountability and Ethics in Washington, told CNN that the Government Ethics Office has the authority to oversee complaints about publications like this.

If anyone filed a complaint about Ivanka Trump's post, which received swift negative responses from critics on social media, the ethics office would send a letter to the designated White House ethics official requesting an investigation and asking him to consider disciplinary action. . The White House attorney's office would be involved in an investigation, which would ultimately consult with the chief of staff and the president.

The employee "can be jailed, fined, demoted, or fired for violating an ethics provision," but that is unlikely to happen to Trump, according to the Government Ethics Office.

Canter said it is "highly unlikely" that the president, his father, will do anything about it, but noted that it would be a potentially incriminating crime in another administration.

Ultimately, Trump's boss is the president, his father. And while this is not a violation of the Hatch Act - which is intended to prevent the federal government from affecting elections or conducting its activities in a partisan way - Trump's previous actions regarding violations of the provisions could show how he would respond. if your daughter is found to have broken this rule. So far in the Trump administration, several officials have been found to have violated the Hatch Act, but the White House has virtually ignored those reports.

“Mrs. Trump has received ethics training. She knows better. But she did it anyway because nobody in this administration cares about government ethics, "Shaub said, adding that it is also problematic because" it creates the appearance that government support is for sale. " "Endorse the president and the government will endorse your product," she explained.

Ivanka Trump's post about Goya came the same day she was publicly criticized for promoting a new ad campaign called Find Something New  .

The campaign, which aims to help unemployed Americans find new careers, was criticized for its title, which can be interpreted as a slogan too simplistic to describe the collapse of unemployment that is affecting millions of Americans as the global pandemic continues to devastate your physical and financial health.

CNN's David Goldman and Kate Bennett contributed to this report.

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