Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin pulled a Bozo No-No. Now he’s saying “my bad.”
A week ago, during an Axios interview, the former Hollywood producer was asked what current movies he’d recommend.
“Well, I’m not allowed to promote anything that I’m involved in. So I just want to have the legal disclosure that you’ve asked me the question and I am not promoting any product,” Mnuchin said. “But you should send all your kids to Lego Batman.“
Oops.
“In effect, Mnuchin made the same mistake as Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s senior adviser and former campaign manager, who was roundly criticized by ethics officials, and then reprimanded by the White House, for improperly promoting Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand after it was dropped by Nordstrom and the president attacked Nordstrom on Twitter in response,” said USA Today.
On Friday, the paper reported, Mnuchin wrote to the Office of Government Ethics and said it was a mistake for him last week to jokingly urge parents to send their kids to see “The Lego Batman Movie.”
“I want to reassure you that I will exercise greater caution to avoid any suggestion that I do not take these important (ethics) rules seriously,” Mnuchin told the OGE.
Other coverage and commentary:
Treasury Sec Mnuchin to Office of Gov Ethics: I am sorry. I won’t do it again. pic.twitter.com/VxfoYlPgrj
— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) March 31, 2017
Good letter, but Mnuchin should be disciplined. Another wrist tap, like with KellyAnne, wont cut it. Sends wrong msg https://t.co/FciyOrmThc
— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) March 31, 2017
Steve Mnuchin makes ‘a joke’ out ethics rules | By @BenDWalshhttps://t.co/CuX5JY6LdL
— SafetyPin-Daily (@SafetyPinDaily) March 31, 2017