Article snippet: The White House may have granted Chief Strategist The New York Times reported Thursday. If, in fact, the waiver was granted after an ethics complaint took aim at Bannon's discussions with Breitbart editors, the White House could be in violation of federal ethics rules. “There is no such thing as a retroactive waiver,” Walter Shaub, the director of the Office of Government Ethics, told the Times. “If you need a retroactive waiver, you have violated a rule.” The waiver in question was undated and does not name Bannon specifically, but it would allow him to freely communicate with editors at the far-right news outlet, where he was once its executive chair. President Trump signed an executive order in January that would prevent Bannon from discussing issues he dealt with in his past job with Breitbart employees for two years. But Citizens for Responsibility in Washington, a liberal watchdog group, claimed that Bannon maintained communications with Breitbart editors, despite the order. The waiver allowing Bannon and others to communicate with news organizations was one of several released by the White House on Wednesday, after a bitter fight with the OGE, which had ordered the administration to make the waivers public. SPONSORED The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2017 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc. Link to the full article to read more
White House may have broke ethics rule with retroactive waiver: report | TheHill
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