President Trump reportedly reassured top aide Kellyanne Conway that he backed her up "completely" after she apologized to him Thursday for promoting his daughter's brand from the White House press briefing room, CNN reported Friday, citing a senior administration official. Conway, while on Fox News on Thursday morning, told viewers to "go buy Ivanka [Trump's] stuff" and outright said she was giving the first daughter's apparel line "a free commercial."
Trump also reportedly told Conway that he "hated" the word "counseled," which was the word White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer used Thursday when asked how the White House was handling Conway's comments.
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Legal experts contend Conway's promotional remarks may violate a federal ethics law that prohibits employees of the executive branch from using their office to endorse "any product, service, or enterprise." On Thursday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) sent a letter to the Office of Government Ethics noting Conway's apparent breach. Chaffetz has called Conway's endorsement a "textbook violation" that was "clearly over the line" and "needs to be dealt with."
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