The White House ethics office says it wasn’t consulted about Ivanka Trump's adviser job

Camille

Kitchen Wench #TeamQuaid
Staff member
he White House brought Ivanka Trump on as an adviser without consulting the Office of Government Ethics, the ethics office says.

The New York Times and Politico reported March 20 that the president's older daughter was working out of a West Wing office. A White House official told CNN that she would get a security clearance but would not be considered a government employee.

The next day, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer assured reporters that Ivanka Trump would follow the ethics restrictions that apply to federal employees. He said she was acting "in consultation with the Office of Government Ethics."

Related: Ivanka Trump White House job raises ethics questions

But the ethics office, in a letter made public Monday, said it was not consulted. Director Walter Shaub said he reached out to the White House and to Ivanka Trump's lawyer on March 24 to tell them that Ivanka Trump should be considered a federal employee, subject to those rules.

Ivanka Trump made her role official five days later, on March 29, and became an unpaid employee in the White House.

"I have heard the concerns some have with my advising the President in my personal capacity while voluntarily complying with all ethics rules," she said in a statement that day. "Throughout this process I have been working closely and in good faith with the White House counsel and my personal counsel to address the unprecedented nature of my role."

The rules require Ivanka Trump to disclose her financial holdings and either sell assets or recuse herself from matters in which she has a financial interest.

Shaub gave his account in a letter to Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tom Carper of Delaware, who had asked him about the ethics rules for Ivanka Trump's White House job.

Ivanka Trump has worked with the ethics office on other matters. She was required to disclose some of her financial holdings earlier in the administration because her husband, Jared Kushner, was named a senior White House adviser.

The White House and Ivanka Trump's lawyers had no immediate comment.

In a second letter made public Monday, this one to Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, the ethics office said the White House has not accepted its offers to help with other ethics consultation and training.

For example, the ethics office said it received no advance notice of a January 28 order from President Trump banning executive branch employees from taking certain lobbying jobs for five years.

The ethics office works with the 2.7 million employees of the executive branch to prevent conflicts of interest.


http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/01/med...ethics-office0103AMVODtopLink&linkId=37085116
 

QueEx

Rising Star
Super Moderator
Sun May 7, 2017 | 8:08 AM EDT


Reporters barred from China event seeking investment in Kushner project

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A poster for an event is seen at a hotel in Shanghai, China May 7, 2017. REUTERS/ALY SONG


By John Ruwitch | SHANGHAI


(Reuters) - Organizers barred journalists on Sunday from a publicly advertised event in Shanghai that offered Chinese investors the chance to get U.S. immigrant visas if they put money in a real estate project linked to the family of President Donald Trump's son-in-law.

The two-tower luxury apartment complex in New Jersey, One Journal Square, is being developed by KABR Group and the Kushner Companies, which until recently was headed by senior White House advisor Jared Kushner, the husband of Trump's daughter Ivanka.



The developers are seeking to raise $150 million, or 15.4 percent of funding for the project, from investors through the EB-5 visa program, according to marketing materials posted by the event's organizer, immigration agency Qiaowai.

The controversial EB-5 program allows wealthy foreigners to, in effect, buy U.S. immigration visas for themselves and families by investing at least $500,000 in certain development projects.

"Sorry, this is a private event," said a man stopping journalists from entering a function room on Sunday afternoon at the Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai.

Guests at the event said Kushner's sister, Nicole Kushner Meyer, spoke for about 10 minutes, including about her family's humble roots.

According to the New York Times, Meyer attended a similar event in Beijing on Saturday and told the audience of about 100 people the project "means a lot to me and my entire family".

Jared Kushner, whose White House portfolio includes relations with China, sold his stake in Kushner Companies to a family trust early this year. His lawyer said in a statement in March that Kushner was fully complying with ethics rules, removing himself from active participation in his prior businesses and divesting assets.

A Kushner Companies spokeswoman declined to comment in a New York Times article about the Beijing event published on Saturday.

The Times story said Meyer did not respond when asked if she was concerned about possible conflicts of interest facing her brother. Journalists from the Times and Washington Post were removed from Saturday's Beijing event, the newspapers reported.



POPULAR WITH WEALTHY CHINESE

One potential investor, Sophie Xing, said a "very important" factor in her decision to attend Sunday's event was the fact that the project was a Kushner Companies investment and that Trump's son-in-law's sister would be showing up in Shanghai.

"Actually I really don't know how close they are but I felt that this was a pretty good project," she said.

In a promotional text message seen by Reuters, Qiaowai made note of Meyer's relationship to Trump and called her the event's "heavyweight honored guest".

Bi Ting, 34, who as also at the Shanghai event, said Qiaowai had told her husband that a relative of Trump would be present.

Qiaowei representatives at the event declined to answer questions from journalists, and calls to its listed phone number went unanswered.


https://news.google.com/news/amp?ca...cle/us-china-kushner-idUSKBN1830E7#pt0-530580


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