Treasury secretary apologizes for casual promotion of 'Lego Batman' movie

pulse

March 31, 2017 8:48 PM

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sent a letter to the Office of Government Ethics on Friday claiming that he didn't mean to promote his own business when he made a public plug for The Lego Batman Movie, a film Mnuchin's company financed.

Steven Mnuchin

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sent a letter to the Office of Government Ethics on Friday claiming that he didn't mean to violate ethics rules when he made a public plug for "The Lego Batman Movie," a film that Mnuchin's company financed.

When Mnuchin was asked at a discussion hosted by the news website Axios last week for movie recommendations, he responded, "

Mnuchin wrote that he regretted his comment, which he claimed was made in jest in response to a "light-hearted question." But, Mnuchin wrote, it was reasonable to interpret his answer as encouraging the audience to see the film and, therefore, it was a mistake.

"I should not have made that statement," Mnuchin wrote.

Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs banker, co-founded

"It’s surprising he would treat it like a joke," Larry Noble, general counsel of the Campaign Legal Center, told Newsday. "

"It's a wonderful line. I own some of it," Conway said on Fox & Friends. "I'm going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online."

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said in February that Conway had been "counseled" about her comments. The White House deputy counsel told the office that he met with Conway after her remarks and that she committed to follow ethics rules more closely in the future.

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