People: Kellyanne Conway 'Counseled' After Telling TV Audience to 'Go Buy Ivanka's Stuff'
Lawrence Noble, the Campaign Legal Center general counsel and former counsel for the Federal Election Commission, tells PEOPLE it appears that Conway has “broken an ethics law, it’s a regulation but regulations are laws, and the regulation prohibits a government employee from promoting a business.”
“It would be major progress for the White House to even acknowledge this is a violation and stop doing this,” he says.
Noble notes that punishment for this kind of rule violation could include penalties as harsh as the loss of one’s job. The Office of Government Ethics can advise on a punishment, and even go to the department of justice for potential civil or criminal prosecution.
But, he says, the final decision is up to the White House. “The problem is, all of these are under the executive branch of the government so they all report to the president,” Noble says.