美国国家公共电台 NPR Kellyanne Conway Tells Americans To Buy Ivanka Trump's Products（在线收听）

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Earlier today, one of President Trump's top advisers might have violated federal ethics rules. The White House says Kellyanne Conway has been counseled, although there are calls for more. Conway got into trouble during an interview on Fox News when she urged shoppers to buy President Trump's daughter's products. She was discussing Nordstrom's decision to drop Ivanka Trump's line because of what the company says were poor sales. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE: President Trump first lit into the retail chain in a tweet sent out yesterday, saying Nordstrom's had treated his daughter so unfairly. The comment was echoed by a White House spokesman and by Trump's son Donald Jr., who expressed support for his sister in a tweet. Then today in an interview on "Fox & Friends," Conway took up the banner.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FOX AND FRIENDS")

KELLYANNE CONWAY: And they're using her, who's been a champion for women, empowering women...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Sure.

CONWAY: ...In the workplace to get to him.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Just...

CONWAY: I think people can see through that.

ZARROLI: Conway went on to urge shoppers to go out and buy Ivanka's line of fashion products, which is still sold by other retailers.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FOX AND FRIENDS")

CONWAY: This is just - it's a wonderful line. I own some of it. I fully - I'm going to just give - I'm going to give a...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: OK.

CONWAY: ...Free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.

ZARROLI: The fact that a senior White House adviser would encourage people to buy products sold by a Trump family member raised plenty of eyebrows. Even the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Jason Chaffetz, said Conway had clearly stepped over the line.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JASON CHAFFETZ: That is absolutely wrong, wrong, wrong. It is over the top.

ZARROLI: The liberal group Public Citizen issued a statement saying anyone harboring illusions that there was some separation between the Trump administration and the Trump family businesses has had their fantasy shattered. Kathleen Clark, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, said Conway's remarks violate federal ethics rules.

KATHLEEN CLARK: Public office should be used for the good of the public, for the good of the country, for the good of the government rather than singling out her boss's daughter's enterprise and encouraging people to shop Ivanka.

ZARROLI: Clark said there were also problems with the first tweet sent out by President Trump yesterday. The comment was later re-tweeted by someone from Trump's official presidential account. That's a problem, Clark says.

CLARK: If the president himself did that, it was improper because there, he's using a government resource for his own personal vendetta.

ZARROLI: The president and vice president are exempt from federal conflict of interest rules, but Conway, as a White House employee, is not. At today's briefing, White House Spokesman Sean Spicer was asked about Conway's remarks.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

SEAN SPICER: Kellyanne has been counseled, and that's all we're going to go with. She's been counseled on that subject, and that's it.

ZARROLI: Spicer wouldn't say whether any disciplinary measures were taken. This controversy is the latest example of the blurred lines between the Trump White House and the family's business interests. Retail consultant Howard Davidowitz says Ivanka Trump has had a lot of success before now getting her products into stores, but now that the family's in politics, she's become a target.

HOWARD DAVIDOWITZ: It's a very emotionally charged, nutty area. So if you have a brand that's directly associated with that, well, you're in the war zone.

ZARROLI: Meanwhile, the company that owns T.J. Maxx and Marshalls has told its employees to take down signs promoting Ivanka Trump's products. It still sells them but mixes them in with other lines to give them less prominence. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.