NEW YORK: When a White House adviser in the first Trump administration told TV viewers to “Go buy Ivanka stuff,” top government lawyers sprang into action, telling her she had violated ethics rules and warning her not to do it again.
Government ethics experts have varying opinions on whether the 2017 criticism of Kellyanne Conway went far enough, but many agree such violations now might not even draw an official rebuke.
A week after President Donald Trump turned the White House lawn into a Tesla infomercial for Elon Musk’s cars, a second sales pitch by a US official occurred, this time for Tesla stock.
“It will never be this cheap,” US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday. “Buy Tesla.”
Government ethics experts say Lutnick broke a 1989 law prohibiting federal employees from using “public office for private gain,” later detailed to include a ban on ”endorsements.” Although presidents are generally exempt from government ethics rules, most federal employees are not and are often punished for violations, including rebukes like the one Conway got.
As of Friday, no public action had been taken against Lutnick and it was unclear whether he would suffer a similar fate.
“They’re not even thinking of ethics,” said Trump critic and former Republican White House ethics czar Richard Painter of administration officials.
Painter has equally low expectations of that other possible brake to future violations — public opinion: ”I don’t know if people care.”
In his first term, Trump opened his hotel near the Oval Office to foreign ambassadors and lobbyists in what many legal scholars argued was a violation of a constitutional ban against presidents receiving payments or gifts that could distort public policy for private gain. His company launched a new hotel chain called “America Idea” in hopes of cashing in on his celebrity. Trump even once proposed holding a G-7 meeting of world leaders at his then-struggling Doral golf resort.
The ‘Buy Ivanka’ rebuke
But the reaction to Conway’s “Ivanka stuff” comment suggested certain lines couldn’t be crossed.
Within days of Conway’s TV comments, the head of the federal ethics agency, the Office of Government Ethics, wrote a letter to the White House saying Trump’s adviser may have broken the law and urging a probe. A White House lawyer then met with Conway to remind her of the law and reported to the ethics office that she had assured him she would abide by it in future.
But this time, there is no head of the Office of Government Ethics. He was fired by Trump. Ditto for the inspector generals of various agencies who would head any investigation.
“What is likely to happen now? I really don’t know,” said Kedric Payne, chief lawyer at the Campaign Legal Center, a non-profit watchdog that sent a letter to the government ethics office on Friday calling for an investigation. “We no longer have the head of the Office of Government Ethics to push the Commerce Department to make sure the secretary acknowledges the law.”
Payne said Lutnick’s comment on TV may seem like a small transgression but it could snowball into a bigger problem if not punished.
“It starts with one TV appearance, but can develop into multiple officials asking people to support companies and products,” Payne said. “If there are no consequences, you get into a danger zone of a corruption.”
Trump critics point to other signs that Trump is careless with the law and ethical norms, citing his pardons for Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, a decision to allow his Trump Organization to strike business deals abroad and his attack on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act banning US company bribes abroad to win business.
Jelly beans and airlines
When it comes endorsing products, presidents used to be far more circumspect.
Their comments were mostly quick asides expressing opinions of taste, such as when Harry Truman called Pillsbury flour the “finest” or John F. Kennedy said United Airlines was “reliable.”
Ronald Reagan famously enthused about his jelly beans habit, remarking that they were the “perfect snack.”
Trump had five Teslas lined up in the White House driveway last week as he praised Musk’s company. Then he slipped into a red Model S he had targeted for personal purchase, exclaiming, “Wow. That’s beautiful.”
“Presidents are allowed to have personal opinions on products they like and dislike,” said ethics lawyer Kathleen Clark, referring to the Truman through Reagan examples. ”But what Trump did was transform the White House into a set for advertising the products of a private company.”
“It’s the difference between holding an extravaganza and holding an opinion.”
Calls for Musk investigation
In the aftermath of the Tesla White House event, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and three other senators wrote a letter to the Office of Government Ethics saying that, while presidents are exempt from ethics law banning endorsements, Elon Musk isn’t and calling for an investigation.
A spokeswoman from Warren’s office said the government ethics office had not yet responded about what it planned to do about the White House Tesla endorsement. The Office of Government Ethics itself said it would not comment on either the Warren letter or Lutnick’s TV appearance.
The Commerce Department did not respond to Associated Press requests for comment.
Asked whether Lutnick would be reprimanded or an investigation opened, White House spokesman Kush Desai defended Lutnick, lauding “his immensely successful private sector career” and his “critical role on President Trump’s trade and economic team.”
Former White House ethics chief Painter says Democrats have also played loose with the ethics law.
He is harshly critical of the Clinton charity, the Clinton Foundation, which was taking donations from foreign governments when Hillary Clinton was the country’s chief diplomat as secretary of state. Painter also blasts former President Joe Biden for not removing his name from a University of Pennsylvania research institute when he was in office even though it appeared to be helping draw donations overseas.
But Painter says the slide from caring about ethics laws and norms to defiance has hit a new low.
“There’s been a deterioration in ethics,” he said. “What Biden did wasn’t good, but this is worse.”
Legal experts say Trump official broke law by saying ‘Buy Tesla’ stock but don’t expect a crackdown
https://arab.news/9wftb
Legal experts say Trump official broke law by saying ‘Buy Tesla’ stock but don’t expect a crackdown
- “It will never be this cheap,” US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday. “Buy Tesla.”
France arrests young man for suspected attack on rabbi
- France is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in the European Union
ORLEANS, France: French police have arrested a young man on suspicion of attacking a rabbi in broad daylight, a prosecutor said Sunday, shocking the Jewish community and prompting a wave of condemnation.
The attack against the Rabbi of Orleans, Arie Engelberg, happened as he walked with his nine-year-old son from synagogue on Saturday afternoon in the city, about 110 kilometers (68 miles) south of Paris.
Engelberg told BFM television that his attacker asked if he was Jewish. “I said yes.”
“He started saying ‘all Jews are sons of...,” he said, adding that he wanted to film him with his phone as he hurled insults.
“I decided to act and I pushed his telephone away,” the rabbi said. His attacker then “started punching and I protected myself,” he added.
Engelberg said the suspect bit him until several people stepped in to help, he told the channel.
“I’m OK, thank God, my son, I’m getting better and better. We’ve had an enormous amount of support.”
Police were checking the identity of the person in custody since he did not have documents on him when he was detained, Orleans prosecutor Emmanuelle Bochenek-Puren said.
Another source with knowledge of the case said the suspect arrested on Saturday night was known under at least three identities, one Moroccan and two Palestinian.
France is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in the European Union.
Several EU nations have reported a spike in “anti-Muslim hatred” and “anti-Semitism” since the Gaza war started on October 7, 2023, according to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.
On that date, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a cross-border attack in Israel, resulting in the death of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s subsequent military offensive on Gaza has killed more than 50,000 people, the majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run occupied Palestinian territory. The United Nations deems the figures reliable.
Andre Druon, a Jewish community leader in Orleans, said there had not been any incident in Orleans since October 7, 2023 “apart from some graffiti” before the “very violent” attack on the rabbi.
He said the rabbi was profoundly shaken when he recounted his ordeal to the community on Sunday.
Yann Dhieux, a locksmith, told AFP he had intervened with his arms wide and helped stop the assault, but that it was shocking to see the rabbi attacked in front of his young son.
President Emmanuel Macron voiced solidarity with the rabbi’s family and all French people of Jewish faith.
“Anti-Semitism is a poison,” he wrote on X.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was “shocked” by the attack and called for “zero tolerance for anti-Semitism.”
France witnessed some 1,570 anti-Semitic acts last year, the interior ministry says. They made up 62 percent of all acts of hatred on the basis of religion.
South Korean court overturns impeachment of Prime Minister Han, reinstating him as acting president
- Han was impeached by the National Assembly, soon after he became acting president when Yoon Suk Yeol was forced out
- The Constitutional Court said Monday it has decided to overturn Han’s impeachment, but it has yet to rule on Yoon’s impeachment
EOUL: South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Monday overturned the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating the nation’s No. 2 official as acting leader, while not yet ruling on the separate impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Han became acting president after Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly over his Dec. 3 imposition of martial law that triggered a massive political crisis. But Han was impeached by the assembly as well in late December following political strife with opposition lawmakers.
The unprecedented, successive impeachments that suspended the country’s top two officials intensified a domestic division and deepened worries about the country’s diplomatic and economic activities. The deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, had since serving as acting president.
The Constitutional Court said Monday it has decided to overturn Han’s impeachment, but it has yet to rule on Yoon’s impeachment.
If the court upholds Yoon’s impeachment, South Korea must hold a election for a new president. If it rules for him, Yoon will be restored to office and regain his presidential powers.
Yoon was impeached about two weeks earlier than Han. Observers earlier predicted the Constitutional Court would rule on Yoon’s case in mid-March but it hasn’t done so.
Yoon has been separately arrested and charged with rebellion in connection with his martial law decree. If convicted of that charge, he would face the death penalty or a life sentence. On March 8, Yoon was released from prison, after a Seoul district court allowed him to stand his criminal trial without being detained.
Massive rival rallies backing Yoon or denouncing Yoon have divided the streets of Seoul and other major cities in South Korea. Earlier surveys showed that a majority of South Koreans were critical of Yoon’s martial law enactment, but those supporting or sympathizing with Yoon have later gained strength.
At the center of squabbling over Yoon is why he sent hundreds of troops and police officers to the assembly after declaring martial law. Yoon says he aims to maintain order, but senior military and police officers sent there have said that Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to prevent a floor vote to overturn his decree. Enough lawmakers eventually managed to enter an assembly hall and voted it down unanimously.
US delegation aims for Black Sea ceasefire in Ukraine, Russia talks
- Talks follow meeting between US, Ukrainian officials on Sunday
- Teams will also discuss “the line of control” between the two countries
RIYADH/KYI: A US delegation will seek progress toward a Black Sea ceasefire and a broader cessation of violence in the war in Ukraine when it meets for talks with Russian officials on Monday, after discussions with diplomats from Ukraine on Sunday.
The so-called technical talks come as US President Donald Trump intensifies his drive for a halt to Russia’s three-year-old assault against Ukraine. Last week, he spoke with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A source briefed on the planning for the talks said the US side was being led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official.
They met the Ukrainians on Sunday night and plan to sit down with the Russians on Monday.
The White House says the aim of the talks is to reach a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, allowing the free flow of shipping.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the US, Russian and Ukrainian delegations were assembled in the same facility in Riyadh.
Beyond a Black Sea ceasefire, he said, the teams will discuss “the line of control” between the two countries, which he described as “verification measures, peacekeeping, freezing the lines where they are.” He said “confidence-building measures” are being discussed, including the return of Ukrainian children taken by Russia.
ussia will be represented by Grigory Karasin, a former diplomat who is now chair of the Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sergei Beseda, an adviser to the director of the Federal Security Service.
Ukraine’s defense minister, Rustem Umerov, the head of the Ukrainian delegation, said on Facebook that the US-Ukraine talks included proposals to protect energy facilities and critical infrastructure.
After Russian forces made gains in 2024, Trump reversed US policy on the war, launching bilateral talks with Moscow and suspending military assistance to Ukraine, demanding that it take steps to end the conflict.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who met Putin in Moscow in early March, played down concerns among Washington’s NATO allies that Moscow could be emboldened by a deal and invade other neighbors.
“I just don’t see that he wants to take all of Europe. This is a much different situation than it was in World War Two, Witkoff told Fox News.
“I feel that he wants peace,” Witkoff said of Putin.
Somewhat under control
Trump has long promised to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two. But his outreach to Putin has unnerved European allies, who fear it heralds a fundamental shift after 80 years in which defending Europe from Russian expansionism was the core mission of US foreign policy.
The war has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and reduced entire towns to rubble.
Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, said earlier this month he supported in principle Washington’s proposal for a truce but that his forces would fight on until several crucial conditions were worked out.
Heorhii Tykhyi, a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said on Friday the Ukrainian and American sides were due “to clarify the modalities, the nuances of possible different ceasefire regimes, how to monitor them, how to control them, in general, what is included in their scope.”
Last Tuesday, Putin agreed to Trump’s proposal for Russia and Ukraine to stop attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure for 30 days and ordered the Russian military to cease them.
The agreement fell short, however, of a wider agreement that the US had sought, and which Kyiv backed, for a blanket 30-day truce in the war.
Trump said on Saturday that efforts to stop further escalation in the Ukraine-Russia conflict were “somewhat under control.”
The US hopes to reach a broad ceasefire within weeks, targeting a truce agreement by April 20, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the planning.
Despite all the diplomatic activity, Russia and Ukraine have both reported continued strikes, while Russian forces have also continued to advance slowly in eastern Ukraine, a region Moscow claims to have annexed.
Gaza killing ‘must stop’, EU foreign policy chief says in Cairo
- EU’s Kaja Kallas held a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty
- UN said that Gaza was facing a 'nightmare' since Israel resumed military operations after a six-week ceasefire
CAIRO: The European Union’s top diplomat called Sunday for an end to the renewed fighting in Gaza during a stop in Egypt, before setting off for Israel and the Palestinian territories to press for resumption of a Gaza truce.
Israel on Tuesday resumed intense air strikes in the Gaza Strip, followed by ground operations, after negotiations with Hamas militants stalled over the next stage in the ceasefire.
“We strongly oppose Israel’s resumption of hostilities, which caused appalling loss of life in Gaza. The killing must stop. In a new war, both sides lose,” the EU’s Kaja Kallas said in Cairo during a press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
“From the European side, it is very clear that Hamas must release all hostages and Israel must fully reinstate humanitarian aid into Gaza and negotiations must resume.”
Kallas’ team later confirmed she had departed Egypt and arrived in Israel.
During talks there and the Palestinian territories on Monday she is expected to “call for an immediate return to the full implementation of the ceasefire-hostage release agreement,” her office said.
Kallas will also refer to “the importance of unimpeded access and sustained distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale into and throughout Gaza,” it said.
The United Nations said on Friday that Gaza was facing a “nightmare” since Israel resumed military operations after a six-week ceasefire.
Aid workers warned of a desperate situation that had been made worse by Israel’s decision earlier this month to cut off aid and electricity to Gaza over the deadlock in negotiations on the next phase of the ceasefire.
Kallas was due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and opposition leader Yair Lapid.
She will not meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant “for crimes against humanity and war crimes.”
In the occupied West Bank, Kallas will hold talks with Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas and prime minister Mohammad Mustafa, her office said.
Israel and the United States have sought in recent weeks to change the terms of the ceasefire deal.
Hamas, which runs Gaza, has rejected this as a violation of the agreement all parties signed.
The first phase of the truce had enabled the entry of vital food, shelter and medical assistance, and an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
On October 7, 2023, fighters from Hamas launched a cross-border attack in Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s ensuing bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza has killed at least 50,021 people in the territory, the Gaza health ministry said on Sunday.
The United Nations considers its figures to be reliable.
Al-Shabab attack on Kenyan police station kills 6
- Terrorists have been fighting for years to overthrow the country’s central government
NAIROBI: At least six police personnel were killed in Kenya while four were injured in an attack on a police camp by suspected militants in Garissa county in the country’s east on the border with Somalia, police said.
The assault which occurred on Sunday was carried out by suspected fighters from Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-allied Al-Shabab group, said a police report sent out to the media.
Al-Shabab frequently carries out cross-border attacks in the area against both military and civilian targets.
FASTFACTS
• Al-Shabab frequently carries out cross-border attacks in the area against both military and civilian ets.
• Militants attacked a c amp housing police reservists and ‘used assorted weapons to overrun the camp,’ the report said.
• Six fatalities have been confirmed with four injured and in hospital.
Attackers from the group launched an assault around dawn on a camp housing police reservists and “used assorted weapons to overrun the camp,” the report said.
“Six fatalities have been confirmed with four (4) injured and in hospital.”
On Tuesday, the US Embassy issued an advisory, telling Americans not to travel to some places in Kenya including Garissa and other counties along the border with Somalia due to threats of terrorism.
Al-Shabab has been fighting for years to overthrow Somalia’s central government and establish its own rule in the Horn of Africa country.
Elsewhere, militants killed at least 44 civilians and severely injured 13 others during an attack on a mosque in southwest Niger, the country’s Defense Ministry said.
The attack occurred on Friday during afternoon prayers in the village of Fombita in the rural commune of Kokorou, which is near the tri-border region of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali known as the epicenter of an insurgency in West Africa linked to Al-Qaeda and Daesh.
The Defense Ministry blamed the attack on the EIGS group, a Daesh affiliate.
Militants encircled a mosque, where people had gathered for prayers and carried out a “massacre of rare cruelty,” it said.
The attackers then set fire to a market and houses before retreating, the ministry said.
Troops deployed to the scene provided a provisional death toll of 44 civilians, with 13 severely injured. Three days of national mourning have been declared.
The insurgency in West Africa’s Sahel region started when militants took over territory in north Mali after a 2012 Tuareg rebellion.
It has since spread into neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso, and more recently into the north of coastal West African countries such as Togo and Ghana.
Hundreds of thousands have been killed and millions displaced as militants have gained groups, attacking towns, villages, military and police posts and army convoys.
The failure of governments to restore security contributed to two coups in Mali, two in Burkina Faso and one in Niger between 2020 and 2023. All three remain under military rule despite regional and international pressure to hold elections.
Since the coups, authorities have turned away from traditional Western allies and sought military support from Russia instead.
