Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint [see here] with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and ethics officials at the U.S. Department of Commerce, urging them to hold U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick accountable for encouraging viewers of Fox News to buy stock in Tesla Wednesday evening. Lutnick’s promotion of the car company owned by Elon Musk, a megadonor to President Donald Trump and leader of the so-called U.S. DOGE Service (DOGE), violates federal ethics rules.
“The president’s Cabinet members take an oath to serve the American people, and with that oath comes the ability and privilege to exercise a vast amount of power,” Kedric Payne, vice president, general counsel, and senior director of ethics at Campaign Legal Center said in a statement. “Secretary Lutnick’s actions violate the ethics rules that were enacted to hold public officials accountable to the American people. The Office of Government Ethics and Commerce ethics officials should hold Lutnick accountable and reassure the public that their officials will face consequences if they use their public office to enrich themselves or their allies.”
Executive branch officials are prohibited from using their public office to promote any product, service or enterprise. Therefore, Secretary Lutnick violated well-established federal ethics rules by using a television appearance to call on Americans to buy a specific stock while serving in his official capacity as Commerce secretary.
Secretary Lutnick’s promotion of Tesla stock follows a concerning pattern of President Trump and his allies using the system to reward wealthy special interests with political favors and extreme influence.
Senior officials of this administration have thousands of documented conflicts of interest, while robust ethics enforcement appears to be absent. This is a stark contrast to even the first Trump administration, which despite its routine ignoring of ethics rules, still had White House ethics lawyers rebuke Kellyanne Conway for promoting products by Ivanka Trump.
Executive branch officials hold some of the most powerful positions in government and they owe it to the America people to make the public good, not wealthy special interests, their top priority. The Office of Government Ethics and Commerce ethics officials must ensure that Secretary Lutnick is held accountable for a clear violation of federal ethics rules.
This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.
Newswire Editor | Radio Free (2025-03-21T18:50:26+00:00) Campaign Legal Center Files Complaint Against U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for Violating Federal Ethics Rules. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2025/03/21/campaign-legal-center-files-complaint-against-u-s-commerce-secretary-howard-lutnick-for-violating-federal-ethics-rules/
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