Thursday, February 09, 2017

Did Kellyanne Conway just break the law by publicly urging people to buy Ivanka Trump merchandise? Yeah, probably.

Courtesy of Mother Jones:  

Ethics lawyers are alleging that a top White House aide may have broken the law Thursday when she urged Fox News viewers to "go buy Ivanka's stuff." Kellyanne Conway, who serves as a counselor to President Donald Trump, made the remarks while defending a tweet that Trump published Wednesday attacking Nordstrom for dropping his daughter's fashion line. (The president and members of his administration claim the department store's move was politically motivated.) 

"Go buy Ivanka's stuff is what I would tell you," Conway said during an appearance on Fox & Friends. "I hate shopping, but I'm going to get some myself today." She later added: "It's a wonderful line. I own some of it. I'm going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online." 

The comments sparked immediate criticism from prominent ethics experts, including Campaign Legal Center general counsel Lawrence Noble and Norm Eisen, the former chief White House ethics lawyer under Barack Obama. They suggested Conway's statements may have violated a law prohibiting federal employees from using their government positions "to endorse any product, service or enterprise."

So now the Trump administration has turned into a version of the Home Shopping Network.

Great.

But seriously will anything happen to Conway over this?

For their part the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington responded quickly and filed a complaint:

“The law is clear that public officials should not use their offices for their own private gain or the private gain of others,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement announcing the complaint. “It’s hard to find a clearer case of that kind of misuse of office than we saw today.”

Still it's hard to imagine in Donald Trump's America that it will actually go anywhere, but it is nice that some people still think that rules and ethics still matter.

How 2016 of them. 

Besides White House Spokes-liar Sean Spicer already said that Conway had been "Counseled."

Which in Trump-speak I believe means given a pat on the back and a cash prize for being so awesome.

Remember this is a guy who only won this office through the interference of a foreign government.

Why would he care about any of OUR laws?

All he cares about is gaining power and getting rich.

Kellyanne is just doing her part to help make that happen.

28 comments:

  1. Still waiting for a house to fall on her!

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  2. Anonymous2:09 PM

    This is Trump's dream come true. He was only in the race to elevate his brand and make more money (probably because he's in deep financial trouble)- and nothing more.

    He didn't intend for those morons to believe his shit but now that he's in this position he and the others will squeeze however many billions they can- particularly out of taxpayers- out of it before he is thrown out of office.

    You can be sure that Smellyanne Conjob is diving in for her share of the booty also too.

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  3. Becky Baker2:10 PM

    I would daresay that Kellyanne Conway is as craven and unethical a woman as is Sarah Palin. Her visceral hatred for Hillary Clinton showed just what a piece of shit she is.

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  4. Kellyanne Conway is not good at this job. She is disgracing our country and its values every day. She is only good at evading questions or when she does respond (not answer) questions she is good at lying. She is a professional liar.

    How can our tax dollars pay for this person? Does she get tax payer funded health insurance coverage? It sickens me that so many of we Americans work so hard, take care of one each other, and try to exist peacefully while she is running around like the White House is her personal playground.

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  5. Anonymous2:43 PM

    Anonymous Feb 28th
    http://anonhq.com/opresistance-engaged-trump-told-to-resign-by-feb-28/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous2:43 PM

    Breaking News! Trump is a big looser (sic)!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:11 PM

      Not $o fa$t>
      http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-responds-to-appeals-court-decision-see-you-in-court

      Delete
  7. Anonymous2:58 PM

    That Emolument Clause is being broken every f..king day, and NOBODY in GOP is complaining about. Not even the Dems, as far as I know.
    Our government is being dismantled, our laws are being broken.
    Soon, we will have anarchy. That was the aim of Norquist some 30+ years ago, and that is the goal of #presidentBannon.
    Total and complete anarchy. He/they do not care what happens to US as a country, or to US as people. As long as he/they get their $$$ and hopefully (for them) can get out of the country before the excrement hits the fan.
    Seems like many of the super-billionaires are preparing for just such a time by buying up vast stretches of land in New Zealand, as well as also some 'apartment' in missile silos in our Midwest.

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  8. linda3:03 PM

    Although I detest the Con, I thought she was smarter than this. She's circling the drain tonight. I expect she'll be gone within the week.

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    Replies
    1. Nope. This scored her points with Trump. She had to clean up her CNN mess.

      This just exposes their hubris. They think they are untouchable and can get away with anything.

      Delete
    2. linda8:30 PM

      I'm not so sure mlaiupa. I think we are approaching critical mass on her and the Spiceman.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous3:04 PM

    Kellyanne's alternative beauty makes me yearn for the old days when there was no HD and televisions were smaller.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:56 PM

      hahaha
      or silent films!


      Delete
  10. Anonymous3:09 PM

    BERN!
    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/02/09/bernie-sanders-rips-trump-bits-presidents-crushing-defeat-muslim-ban.html

    ReplyDelete
  11. Whiny little bitch just got served by the court of appeals.

    Ban is still Banned!

    What is his response?

    "SEE YOU IN COURT. THE NATION'S SECURITY IS AT STAKE."

    Yeah, not so much. His lawyers have been schooled twice and by Bush appointees.

    I'm sure they're not taking kindly to the insults and undermining directed at the judicial branch either.

    Trump isn't happy with Nonesuch either. Trump may actually rescind the nomination. Of course, if he does, he'll just appoint someone ever worse.

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  12. Yep, she is looking to get fired....then she is going to write a book. Hope she did not sign a non-disclosure agreement after entering the WH.

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  13. https://www.yahoo.com/news/appeals-court-decision-trump-travel-ban-coming-thursday-221158821.html

    "A federal appeals court refused Thursday to reinstate President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations, dealing another legal setback to the new administration's immigration policy.

    In a unanimous decision , the panel of three judges from the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to block a lower-court ruling that suspended the ban and allowed previously barred travelers to enter the U.S.

    An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court seems likely and would put the decision in the hands of a divided court that has a vacancy. Trump's nominee, Neil Gorsuch, could not be confirmed in time to take part in any consideration of the ban.

    Moments after the ruling was released, Trump tweeted, "SEE YOU IN COURT," adding that "THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!"

    The appeals panel said the government presented no evidence to explain the urgent need for the executive order to take effect immediately."

    The only way Trump can win now is to rescind the order and issue a new, more narrow one.

    I doubt he will.

    He'll just keep pushing and pushing and LOSING.

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  14. Anonymous3:50 PM

    Aren't the Trump tramps extremely concerned that laws are being followed? Let's give Kellyanne "The Hillary Treatment."

    For the next six months, I want to be hearing conservatives foaming at the mouth about Kellyanne's ethical and possibly legal issues. Anything else would be hypocritical. Oh hell, why do I bother? These same degenerates are using private email themselves.

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  15. Anonymous3:50 PM

    Donald Trump takes devastating body blow as Appeals Court cuts down his Muslim ban

    ...Trump is already angrily tweeting in all caps that he’ll “SEE YOU IN COURT” – seemingly unaware of the irony that he just lost in court – and presumably hinting that he’ll now take the matter to the United States Supreme Court. But the current eight Supreme Court justices are highly unlikely to give him a favorable 5-3 ruling. And if they come up 4-4, it means the Appeals Court ruling will stand against him.

    Trump will now double down on trying to get conservative extremist Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court, in the hope of an eventual 5-4 ruling in his favor on the Muslim ban.

    ...But as long as Senate Democrats continue standing in the way of Gorsuch’s confirmation, which they can do via filibuster indefinitely, Trump now has no way of reenacting his Muslim ban. It’s dead in the water. And so is his political credibility in the eyes of all involved.

    Those Americans who oppose Donald Trump are now emboldened by the fact that he can be defeated.

    http://www.palmerreport.com/opinion/bodyblow-donald-trump-muslim-ban-appeals-court/1451/

    Donald Trump abruptly fires White House cybersecurity chief, has him escorted out of building

    Donald Trump is on yet another White House firing spree, and this time the implications are even stranger than ever. Trump has already fired the acting Attorney General of the United States for refusing to break the law, and he fired the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the same night. But now it turns out Trump has fired the guy who was in personally charge of keeping him from getting cyber hacked.

    And it raises all kinds of red flags as to what was really behind his abrupt firing, just weeks into the Trump administration.

    The cybersecurity chief had been hired by President Barack Obama, and was one of the many Obama holdovers in the Trump White House, due to the Trump administration’s inability to staff up the place. So while Cory Louie’s departure may have fit within Donald Trump’s general desire to stick it to Obama in any real or perceived way that he can, it’s the dramatic nature of his exit which points to something deeper going on.

    http://www.palmerreport.com/politics/donald-trump-abruptly-fires-white-house-cybersecurity-chief-escorted-building/1450/
    Donald Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway violated federal ethics laws today when she used a White House interview to encourage Americans to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff” — a direct attempt at using the office of the presidency to funnel money into a clothing company partly owned by Donald Trump himself. The incident caused such an uproar this afternoon, with so many Americans simultaneously filing ethics complaints about Conway, that the Office of Government Ethics website crashed in the process.

    http://www.palmerreport.com/politics/many-people-reported-kellyanne-conway-office-government-ethics-website-crashed/1448/

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous4:11 PM


    Trump Calling Everything Unfair Shows Just How Profoundly Privileged He Is

    He’s been pirouetting for decades in his golden bubble, grousing and grumbling over anything that doesn’t go his way.

    Think about this for a second: when was the last time you earnestly exclaimed that something was unfair? If you’re over the age of eight, it’s probably been quite some time; you likely can’t even remember. You know why that is? Well, at some point in your life, likely in elementary school, you were taught, or you realized on your own that life isn’t always fair and complaining about it does little to change that fact, or improve your situation. You start to grasp the way the world works, the ebbs and flows of it all. Sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don’t.

    Donald Trump, a 70-year-old man, and the current leader of the free world, never learned that lesson—he uses the word constantly. And when he does, it’s always about himself. He never describes the plight of the economically, socially or racially disenfranchised as unfair. His usage is always centered around how unfair SNL, or Fox News, or CNN, or protesters, or the RNC, or our executive branch, or the New York Times, or Nordstrom treats him (and in one case, his daughter.)

    Here’s a montage of Trump using the word 20 times while campaigning.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-calling-everything-unfair-shows-just-how-profoundly_us_589c8a1ce4b02bbb1816c3a3

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  17. Anonymous4:17 PM

    "I hate shopping, but I'm going to get some myself today", and "Go buy it today, everybody", KellyAnne says.

    Such cognitive dissonance. Her team would cruelly reformulate affordable health care, medicaid, social security with great risks, and play games with people's lives, and still, she expects the 'little people' to have enough money to go out and shop shop shop with endless abandon. These people don't live in the real world.

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  18. Anonymous4:34 PM

    Our local news, when describing how Kellyanne was dealt with by the White House after this statement, said she was "cancelled...er, uh, counseled." I would just love to see her cancelled!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous5:01 PM

    The White House
    The White House (.gov) › home
    Official

    Explore the White House and find everything you need from the comfort of your home, or on the go. With award-winning customer service and salesperson Kathyanne Conway a phone call away, the online White House site features some of the nations best selling items, as well as fashion news, programming announcements and special offers from the Co-First Lady.

    The White House is the official clearing house and principal workplace of the RNC of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous5:09 PM

    Bernie Sanders Rips Trump To Bits After President’s Crushing Defeat On Muslim Ban

    Hopefully, the unanimous court ruling against President Trump’s immigration ban will restore some of the damage he has done to our country’s reputation around the world. It also may teach President Trump a lesson in American history and how our democracy is supposed to work here at home.

    A president who respected our traditions of religious freedom would not have resorted to hateful, anti-Islamic rhetoric to justify a ban on travel from seven mostly Muslim countries. A president responsible for keeping our citizens safe would not hand over ideological ammunition to terrorists seeking new recruits to kill Americans. A president who respected the Constitution’s separation of powers would not have insulted a ‘so- called judge’ he disagreed with or tried to bully a federal appeals court with taunts on Twitter.

    This was a good day for our system of checks and balances.

    According to Sen. Sanders, President Trump has damaged America’s reputation, doesn’t understand the Constitution or democracy, has provided ammo to terrorists, and has no clue about US history.

    That about covers it.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/02/09/bernie-sanders-rips-trump-bits-presidents-crushing-defeat-muslim-ban.html

    Trump Calls Court’s Decision ‘Political’ Despite The Unanimous, Bipartisan Ruling

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/02/09/trump-calls-court-ruling-political-unanimous-bipartisan-decision.html

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  21. Anonymous5:33 PM

    Again someone needs to remind kellyanne, ivanka's stuff in NOT made in American. buying her crap would not make America First.

    We need to keep pointing out the hypocrisy of trump.

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  22. Anonymous6:59 PM

    Come on gop pussygrabbers grab kellyann's! Mitch easily grabbed EW's.

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  23. Anonymous8:05 PM

    I love it 5:33! Good point, the Trumps have no souls. And how curious Trump tonight goes with the One China policy too. Imagine. The guy is all over the map.

    ReplyDelete

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