Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is the latest member of the Trump administration to find himself in an ethical jam.
At an Axios event with Mike Allen, Mnuchin — a former Hollywood producer — was asked several movie-related questions.
“I’m not allowed to promote anything that I’m involved in. So I just want to have the legal disclosure, you’ve asked me the question, and I am not promoting any product,” Mnuchin said, according to MarketWatch. “But you should send all your kids to ‘Lego Batman.’”
Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs executive, is listed as the executive producer on 38 movies since 2014, according to his IMDB.com page. Among the titles: “The LEGO Batman Movie,” “Suicide Squad” and “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Mnuchin helped finance more than 100 Hollywood movies, according to The Hollywood Reporter, including 2009’s “Avatar.”
Mnuchin called “Avatar” his favorite movie at the Axios event. “Largest. Grossing. Film. Ever,” Mnuchin said, according to MarketWatch.
Norm Eisen, an ethics lawyer in the Obama administration, told The Atlantic that he believes Mnuchin had violated a federal rule about using public office for private gain.
Earlier this year, the Office of Government Ethics recommended that the White House discipline Kellyanne Conway, a counselor to the president, after she endorsed Ivanka Trump’s brand during a television interview on Fox News. It came after Nordstrom announced it was dropping Trump’s brand.
“Go buy Ivanka's stuff, is what I would tell you,” Conway told Fox News. "It's a wonderful line. I own some of it. I fully — I’m going to just, I'm going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.”
President Donald Trump sent out a tweet about it as well.
My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2017
Comments