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Meena Harris, the industrious and outspoken niece of Vice President Kamala Harris, creates an optical problem for the White House.
Meena, 36, attended the grand opening on the private plane of an inaugural Biden donor and posted about the trip on her Instagram Stories.
The Stanford and Harvard law graduate has a children’s book about his aunt and mother that is No. 4 on the New York Times bestseller list – “Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea”.
MILWAUKEE, WI – AUGUST 19: In this screenshot from the DNCC’s live broadcast of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris niece Meena Harris addresses the virtual convention on August 19, 2020 (Photo by DNCC via Getty Images ) (Photo by Document / DNCC via Getty Images)
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The book was published in June 2020, before Kamala was vice president, and therefore does not break any laws. But White House officials told Politico the book could not have been released today because it uses Kamala’s name and likeness. It’s unclear if Meena is allowed to continue collecting royalties for the book, and she won’t say if she still is.
After President Biden’s family appeared to profit from his political influence during his years as a senator and vice president, the White House has attempted to distance itself from any further ethical breaches. “It is the policy of the White House that the president’s name should not be used in connection with any commercial activity to suggest or in any way, in any way, they could reasonably be understood to imply endorsement or support, “White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. Friday.
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In December, transition lawyers said they were drafting new ethics rules for businesses in the Biden and Harris families that “are likely to be more restrictive than the rules governing the Obama administration,” according to the Washington Post.
The VP’s office takes the same position. “The Vice President and her family will adhere to the highest ethical standards and it is the policy of the White House that the Vice President’s name should not be used in connection with any business activity that could reasonably be understood to imply endorsement. or support, “Sabrina Singh, spokeswoman for the vice president, said in a statement to Politico.
The day after the inauguration, transition ethics lawyers had to tell Meena that she could not continue to sell a number of items for her clothing brand Phenomenal which bore her aunt’s name – the “Kamala”. Harris Swimsuit ”,“ The Phenomenal Kamala Tank ”and“ Kamala T-Shirt. “Articles that appeared last fall are no longer listed on his site.
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Phenomenal sold other items referring to Kamala during the campaign, including an MVP sweatshirt, depicting “Madam Vice President”, and another with the phrase “I speak” on the front, alluding to the Kamala repeated line during his debate with former Vice President Mike Pence.
After Biden picked Kamala as his running mate in August, Meena convinced Biden’s team to sell a shirt in the campaign store bearing his name and that of his other influencer Cleo Wade. The shirt read “THE FIRST BUT NOT THE LAST,” alongside a photo of a young Kamala, referring to Kamala’s historic swearing-in as the first female vice president.
The Biden campaign agreed, but on September 6, Meena’s name had been removed as a collaborator, according to an internet archive unearthed by Politico.
“For appearance’s sake, Meena’s name was deleted because we didn’t want to give the impression that she would benefit or profit from the campaign,” a White House official said, adding that neither Meena nor Wade made any money on the campaign. shirt.
This month, Meena was slapped again by ethics lawyers when, as part of a collaboration with Beats by Dre, her clothing company adorned the same phrase “The first but not the last,” on headphones by Beats. sent to influencers and celebrities before the inauguration. The Biden team was not notified of the collaboration in advance, according to Axios.
In her latest venture, Meena announced weeks after the election that she was starting a production company with former Obama White House employee Brad Jenkins of Phenomenal Productions.
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The day before the opening day, Supermajority Education Fund ran an ad featuring clips of Kamala that Meena and the company produced. The White House has reportedly said it doesn’t know if Meena is being paid for her time producing the ad, but if she is, it would be an ethics violation. When asked if she was being paid by Supermajority, Meena did not respond.
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