Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tom Carper sent a letter to the Office of Government Ethics Monday asking for an investigation into Ivanka Trump’s tweet selling to Goya, the president’s daughter who criticized extensively for selling the canned logo after its executive director publicly congratulated President Donald Trump.
Goya’s chief executive, Robert Unanue, provoked a backlash against his company after praising Donald Trump at the White House and said, “In fact, we are all blessed at the same time for having a leader like President Trump.
In reaction to the reaction, Ivanka Trump, who is an adviser to the White House, tweeted a symbol of her holding a box of Goya beans with the legend: “If it’s Goya, it’s going to have to be good” written in English and Spanish.
Donald Trump then moved on to his own message on social media posing with Goya products.
Government watchdogs have criticized Ivanka’s widely criticized tweet, claiming it violates federal regulations prohibiting government workers from advertising products or businesses.
Warren and Carper point out this alleged violation in their letter and point out that “the timing of [Ivanka’s] comments gives the impression, at least, that the compliment of Trump’s management officials can get approval from the same officials.”
Senators ask the Office of Government Ethics to answer questions in the letter about whether the tweet violated ethics rules and disciplinary action in response, and request that it conduct a review of the White House’s ethics program.
“As a pictorial depiction of the war of Trump’s direction opposed to the government’s ethics, both images are perfectly clear,” former Office of Government Ethics leader Walter M. Shaub wrote in a Washington Post editorial on the Trump’s Goya messages. “They’re screaming” regulations don’t apply to us,” a central message from Trump’s leadership from the beginning.
The White House protected Ivanka’s tweet over Goya, and media director Carolina Hurley said amid the reaction: “Only the media and the motion of cancellation culture would criticize Ivanka for showing her non-public help for a company that has been unfairly mocked, boycotted. Politico, who first reported on Warren and Carper’s letter, reported that the White House continued to protect the tweet Tuesday in response to the request for an ethical investigation.
This is far from the first time White House workers have faced accusations of unethical behavior. Councilman Kellyanne Conway has been criticized for selling Ivanka’s fashion line on television in 2017, and the U.S. Office of Special Defenders. He has called in 2019 for Conway to be fired for repeated violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits workers from engaging in many partisan political activities or selling candidates. Shaub notes that the OSC discovered that at least thirteen Trump administration officials had violated the Hatch Act: the administration refused to punish workers for violations. The White House said in a memorandum that the CSO report calling for Conway’s dismissal “runs the risk of violating Conway’s First Amendment rights and cooling the freedom of expression of all government workers,” calling the dismissal request “outrageous.” “If you try to silence me through the Hatch Act, it probably wouldn’t work,” Conway told reporters in 2019. “Let me know when the criminal sentence begins.”
Ethics investigation senators behind Ivanka Trump’s backing in Goya (Politician)
The Trumps don’t think the regulations are applicable to them. They’re his goya endorsements. (The Washington Mail)
Calls for boycotts explode after Goya Foods CEO praises Trump (Forbes)
Ivanka Trump enters the ranks of Goya Foods and faces ethics violation charges (Forbes)
I’m a New York resident journalist covering the latest news in Forbes. Previously, I devoted myself to politics and existing affairs for Vanity Fair and Mic, and as a theater critic, I am
I’m a New York resident journalist covering the latest news in Forbes. Previously, I worked in existing politics and issues for Vanity Fair and Mic, and as a theater critic, I am a member of the New York Foreign Critics Circle. Follow me on twitter – alisond64 or touch me on [email protected].