Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, an appointee of President Donald Trump, appeared to violate ethics rules on Friday when he recommended that audience members “send your kids to Lego Batman” — a movie he produced shortly before joining the Trump Administration — during a broadcasted event with media outlet Axios.
Moments before making the remark, he admitted that should not use his political publicity to promote the film.
“Well, I’m not allowed to promote anything that I’m involved in,” Mnuchin told Axios executive editor Mike Allen in an interview during the event. “So I just want to have the legal disclosure that you’ve asked me the question and I am not promoting any product. But you should send all your kids to ‘Lego Batman.'”
Mnuchin’s comments bared strong resemblance to White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway’s endorsement of Ivanka Trump’s clothing merchandise during an episode of Fox & Friends last month.
Treasury Sec Steve Mnuchin appears to have violated an ethics rule – the same one that got @KellyannePolls into trouble https://t.co/tyCPXtNSww
— OpenSecrets.org (@OpenSecretsDC) March 24, 2017
Conway’s controversial plug caused a stir, with the Office of Government Ethics and lawmakers from the House Oversight Committee calling for disciplinary action for the president’s aide. She was ultimately not punished, however, with the White House issuing a statement that she was “counseled.”
Fortune has reached out to the Treasury Department for comment.
