Weeks after Ivanka Trump stepped down as the head of her fashion brand, it appears that the rumblings about the First Daughter having a role in the current administration have come to pass. It was recently reported that Trump will be working out of a West Wing office and moreover, that she will be privy to top secret information in her new White House role.
The New York Post reports that Jamie Gorelick, an attorney and ethics adviser for Ivanka Trump, said earlier this week that the mother-of-three will not have an official title, but will get a West Wing office, government-issued communications devices, and security clearance to access classified information. Gorelick added that Ivanka Trump will follow the ethics rules that apply to government employees, even if she is not a White House employee.
Ivanka Trump’s unknown White House role has raised many eyebrows, especially since President Donald Trump appointed her husband, Jared Kushner, as his senior adviser. Now, the president is being accused of blatantly flouting the rules against nepotism.
The statute (via Legal Information Institute) states that a public official, which includes the president, “may not appoint, employ, promote, advance, or advocate for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement, in or to a civilian position in the agency in which he is serving or over which he exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative.”
Meanwhile, former ethics advisers who served in previous administrations are saying that despite the fact that the current administration is denying that Ivanka Trump is a White House employee, she clearly is one due to the special privileges that she has received as part of her new role.
Ambassador Norm Eisen, former White House Ethics Counsel under President Barack Obama, told Fox News, “Even though the White House denies it, Ivanka is for these and other reasons a ‘special government employee.’”
Richard Painter, former White House Ethics Counsel for George W. Bush, echoed Eisen’s sentiments, saying that it is important for the Trump administration to acknowledge that Ivanka Trump is an employee and “not play games.”
“They have given her an office. I’m assuming they will give her devices,” said Painter. “She’s going to get security clearance—she is a government employee.”
For more, check out Jobs & Hire’s report on the fashion designers who are refusing to dress Melania Trump.
