Psaki: WH has ‘Highest Ethical Standards’ Despite Many Admin Family Hires

MARY CHASTAIN JUN 21, 2021 7:00 PM

Remember when the left exploded when former President Donald Trump brought on his children and son-in-law Jared Kushner? He had no ethics! No one hires family!

Biden promised in January: “No one in our family and extended family is going to be involved in any government undertaking or foreign policy. And nobody has an office in this place.”

Ah, words are powerful because Biden only addressed his family. The Biden family.

I guess ethics only applies to the president?

The topic came up after The Washington Post detailed all the jobs taken up by family members and other relatives of aides in President Joe Biden’s administration.

CBS reporter Nancy Cordes asked Press Secretary Jen Psaki about the WaPo story, specifically about any “safeguards the administration has in place to make sure that the children of top officials don’t get preferential treatment in hiring.”

Psaki answered:

Well, let me say first that we have the highest ethical standard of any administration in history. A number of ethics officials have conveyed that and we are proud of that. We have also staffed up at an unprecedented pace and this is the most diverse administration in American history. So, we certainly expect that everyone will abide by those high ethics standards. That applies in how we operate, it also applies how hiring is done.

The WaPo article concentrated on Biden counselor Steve Ricchetti, whose son J.J. Ricchetti landed a job at the Treasury Department.

Shannon Richetti, Steve’s daughter, works as the associate director of the White House social secretary.

Daniel Richetti, another son of Steve, landed the job of senior advisor in the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security office.

My goodness, there are so many more:

• Sarah Donilon, daughter of Cathy Russell, the director of presidential personnel in the White House, serves on the White House National Security Council.
• Mike Donilon, Sarah’s uncle, is a Biden senior adviser.
• Psaki’s sister, Stephanie, is a senior adviser at the Health and Human Services Department.
• White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain’s wife Monica Medina is nominated to serve as the assistant secretary of state focused on oceans and the environment.
• National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s wife Maggie Goodlander is counsel to Attorney General Merrick Garland. (She clerked for him when he worked as an appellate judge.)
• Sullivan’s brother Tom Sullivan works as a State Department official.
• Tom’s wife is an official at HHS.

Former ethics watchdog Walter Shaub, who served under former President Barack Obama and Trump, tore into Biden on Friday within the WaPo article. He is one of the few who has remained consistent.

Shaub disapproved of Trump’s family involvement in the government. He disapproves of Biden: “While it may not be as bad as appointing your son or daughter to a top government post as Trump did with Jared and Ivanka, it is still bad. ‘Not as bad as Trump’ cannot be the new standard.”

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