U.S. President Trump gave $45,000 in cash to three close White House aides, which has sparked controversy over whether this action violated federal government ethics regulations.
According to a report by The Washington Post on September 8th, financial documents released by the Trump administration recently show that Presidential Administrative Assistant Natalie Hopp, Communications Advisor Margo Martin, and another administrative assistant, Chamberlain Harris, all reported receiving a $45,000 'holiday cash gift' from Trump.
Natalie Hupp
Maggie Martin
Three people have an annual salary of approximately $150,000 at the White House. This amount of cash is roughly one-third of their annual income.
In addition, Walter Norte, the director of operations at the White House Oval Office, also reported receiving $20,000 as a gift from Trump. Norte's annual salary is approximately $175,000.
Reports indicate that there are no public records showing that any U.S. President has ever given such a large sum of cash to current White House staff. Several government ethics experts also stated that they have never seen an instance where a superior has paid such a large amount of cash to subordinate federal employees.
Richard Painter, who was the White House Chief Ethics Lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, believes that these payments may violate U.S. federal laws regarding the prohibition on supplementing federal employees' salaries from external sources.
Peinert said that if Trump uses private funds to help these staff members cover their government salaries, “making it easier for them to continue working at the White House,” then such payments could be considered a supplement to government salaries.
However, Don Fox, who was the acting director of the U.S. Government Ethics Office, believes that the current available information is not sufficient to determine any violations. If it can be proven that the purpose of Trump’s gifts was to compensate for insufficient government salaries, then the legal risks would become more apparent.
Fox also stated that even if such large private gifts do not constitute a violation of law, they can still cause ethical issues, as the recipients of these gifts may feel indebted to the president personally.
The White House denies that the funds violated any laws or ethical regulations.
White House spokesman Davis Ingel said that Trump has had the habit of giving gifts to his close acquaintances during Christmas for a long time, both while in government service and before his business career.
Ingel emphasized that these gifts have “nothing to do” with the individuals’ performance of government duties, and therefore comply with relevant legal and ethical standards.
Three female assistants who received 4.5 million US dollars each belong to Trump's inner circle.
Among them, 35-year-old Hupp has been closely associated with Trump for a long time. He carries a portable printer with him, constantly printing news reports and social media content for Trump. Thus, he is known within the White House as the “human printer”.
Thirty-one-year-old Martin is primarily responsible for presidential communication work, frequently shooting Trump's daily activities up close for social media release.
26-year-old Harris served as Trump's Executive Assistant, and was appointed to the U.S. Art Commission by Trump in February of this year. The commission is responsible for reviewing design projects including those related to White House and Washington D.C.'s development projects.
Reports say that Hump and Martin, as well as Harris and Nott, have close relationships with Trump and continued to work for him during both of Trump’s presidential terms.
