Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) Image by twitter

By Nathan Guttman February 9, 2017

Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House oversight committee, has shown little interest in probing ethical questions relating to Donald Trump and his administration. But now, the Utah Republican, who converted to Mormonism from Judaism, may have reached the end of the line in his willingness to stand up for Trump and his staff.

Reacting to Trump’s adviser Kellyanne Conway’s on-air plug promoting Ivanka Trump’s merchandise, Chaffetz said the free commercial was unacceptable. “That was wrong, wrong, wrong. It is wholly unacceptable no if, ands or buts about it,” Chaffetz said.

Conway’s promotion was in response to a decision by Nordstrom to drop Trump’s daughter’s line of apparel due to what the chain described as poor sales performance.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The decision to speak out against a senior member of the Trump team may show Chaffetz’s sensitivity to anti-Trump sentiment. The Conway interview led to a massive online uproar, causing the government ethics office’s website to crash.

Federal regulations prevent government employees from using their public office to endorse or promote products.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected]

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount