Treasury Secretary Causes Backlash By Telling People To See Lego Batman

(RTTNews) - Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's comments about the Lego Batman movie that he produced has raised questions from ethical groups whether he violated federal ethics rules that prohibit the promotion of products.

Mnuchin, a former Hollywood producer, was asked several questions related to movies at an Axios event in Washington on Friday.

"Well, I'm not allowed to promote anything that I'm involved in. So I just want to have the legal disclosure that you've asked me the question and I am not promoting any product. But you should send all your kids to 'Lego Batman,'" Mnuchin said.

Mnuchin is one of the executive producers on the animated hit movie, which was financed by his RatPac-Dune Entertainment. The motion picture production and finance company has financed a number of notable films, including the X-Men film franchise and Avatar.

While going through his confirmation process as Treasury Secretary, Mnuchin had pledged to divest his holdings RatPac-Dune within 120 days of his confirmation.

In response to Mnuchin's comments, the group Center for Responsive Politics said in a tweet," Treasury Sec Steve Mnuchin appears to have violated an ethics rule - the same one that got @KellyannePolls into trouble."

Another organization, American Oversight, has sent a letter to the Treasury Department's top ethics official and asked for an investigation into whether Mnuchin's remarks violated federal law. The group also wrote to the Office of Government Ethics, asking for that office to monitor the Treasury Department's investigation.

Earlier this year, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, was found to have violated ethics rules by the Office of Government Ethics after she endorsed Ivanka Trump's products.

During an interview on "Fox & Friends," Conway urged viewers to buy Ivanka Trump's product line. Her comments were in response to department store chain Nordstrom's decision to drop Ivanka's clothing line, citing poor sales.