June 24, 2018

Sanders May Have Broken the Law After Being Booted From Restaurant, Says Ex-White House Ethics Chief

The White House press secretary used her official Twitter account to send a less-than-official message.

Michael Brochstein/Zuma

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After being asked to leave the a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders took to Twitter. But while she may have seen it as a way to let Trump supporters know what happened to her, former White House ethics lawyer Walter Shaub says she may have broken the law.

Shaub tweeted that Sanders’ use of her official government account to tweet about the incident was a violation of ethics law because it discouraged patronage of the restaurant.

https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1010651510659846145

https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1010652947498328065

Stephanie Wilkinson, the owner of the Red Hen, explained that she asked Sanders to leave because she works for an “inhumane and unethical” administration and several of her employees who are a part of the LGBTQ community didn’t feel comfortable serving her.

If it was Sanders’ intent to discourage patronage, it might have worked. After the tweet, many conservatives took to Yelp to leave critical messages and vow never to visit the restaurant. 

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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