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Report: White House Rebukes Cabinet Officials Over Ethics Issues

The officials were reportedly advised to “always consider optics” after a flurry of negative news reports.

The White House reportedly called in four Cabinet-level officials last month to issue private reprimands after a spate of negative news stories highlighted some questionable ethics behavior. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt were all reportedly singled out amid increasing media scrutiny over their spending habits and internal strife at their respective agencies. In separate meetings held at the request of White House chief of staff John Kelly, the four officials received a set of guidelines urging them to “always consider optics” amid press scrutiny, CNN reports. “You are the best guardian of your reputation. Your recordkeeping practices must be designed with a purpose to prove innocence at the complaint phase or with the press,” the guidelines read, according to CNN. The document also urged them to avoid doing things that “appear recreational” to prevent negative “optics,” and reminded them that “an ethics opinion matters only if the ethics officer received all of the information.”