Reports that White House press secretary Jen Psaki will soon leave government service to join MSNBC as a pundit raise serious ethical concerns, multiple experts told the Washington Examiner.
Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, said reports of Psaki’s imminent departure to join MSNBC are concerning.
“A serious conflict of interest can arise when a sitting press secretary leverages her position to negotiate employment with a media outlet,” Sutherland told the Washington Examiner. “Unless the White House takes strict, material steps to ensure Ms. Psaki is in full compliance with laws, a simple press conference could turn into serious legal and ethical consequences.”
“It bothered me when this sort of thing happened in the last administration and bothers me to see it happen in this administration,” Walter Shaub, former President Barack Obama’s ethics chief, told the Washington Examiner.
Read more about her MSNBC deal fraught with ethical landmines in the Washington Examiner.
