Ethics Watchdog Calls for Investigation into Senior White House Advisor Anita Dunn

A non-partisan ethics watchdog organization demanded an investigation by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) into Senior White House Advisor Anita Dunn for allegedly failing to file the required public personal financial disclosure.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed a complaint with the Office of Government Ethics to look into Dunn for failing to file the required public personal financial disclosure, which is required under federal law for government employees and officials. FACT claimed that evidence has suggested Dunn has ignored the public disclosure laws.

Federal law requires government employees and officials to disclose their financial information to the public accurately and in a timely manner to ensure the government stays ethical and transparent. “Accurate and timely filing is the only method for citizens to determine whether government officials have conflicts of interest or are wrongfully profiting from their position,” the complaint stated.

The complaint added:

Under the public disclosure requirements, covered government employees must file an annual financial disclosure report that provides a “full and complete” statement of their assets, debts, and income. Other relationships and all non-federal positions (whether or not compensated) held with any organization must also be reported. In addition to the annual report, covered employees must file a periodic report to disclose any financial transaction that exceeds $1,000 within 30 to 45 days of the transaction. This federal law is extremely important and places an affirmative duty on those filing to ensure compliance with the law. There is no excuse for inaccurate, incomplete, or late filings, and every violation has consequences.

As outlined in the complaint, prior to Dunn’s employment in the government, she was the founding member of SKDK — a public affairs and political consulting firm — and worked for the then-candidate Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. It was also noted that she had either been employed by the Biden White House, SKDK, or both at the same time since 2021.

Dunn worked as a “senior advisor” to Biden from January to August 2021 and remained at SKDK for “management issues” but not client matters, the complaint said. Additionally, she worked “full-time” at SKDK from August 2021 to March 2022.

Dunn again joined the Biden White House in March 2022 as a “special government employee” to fill the deputy chief of staff position left by Jennifer O’Malley Dillon. The complaint noted that during this time, Dunn “reportedly told her SKDK clients that they could not contact her for two weeks.”

Then, the complaint added, from March 2022 to May 5, Dunn worked at SKDK full-time, and on May 5, the Biden White House announced she would again be returning as a “senior advisor.”

The complaint explained the “loophole” Dunn is appearing to use for not filing any public financial disclosure reports:

Despite Dunn’s senior positions in the White House, she has not filed any public financial disclosure reports. The White House attempted to excuse this by claiming Dunn was classified as a “special government employee” and her salary was below the threshold of $132,552 that triggers the requirement to file. A “special government employee” is someone retained to perform temporary duties of no more than 130 days. The role of “senior advisor”, however, is not a temporary one but is instead a continuous position in the Administration, demonstrated by the fact that both past and current advisors have filed public financial disclosures. In fact, Dunn worked more than 130 days just in her first stint at the White House and it appears her salary was purposefully set at $129,000–just below the threshold requiring public disclosure. It should also be noted that her salary happens to be significantly lower than other staff with similar seniority.

In a statement to Breitbart News, FACT’s Executive Director, Kendra Arnold, slammed Dunn for the “arrangement” where she appears to try to keep her ties to a primary company while working in the Biden White House:

This employment arrangement wherein Dunn is able to maintain her ties with a private company while in a senior advisory role raises serious concerns of conflicts of interest and improper influence. It is clear that someone in Dunn’s position should be filing public financial disclosures–just as others in the same position are and have done in the past. As exemplified in this case, when a government official appears to successfully take steps to avoid a basic ethics rule it looks as if the law does not apply equally to all and leads to public district. We request the Office of Governmental Ethics investigate and take appropriate action.

A full copy of the FACT’s complaint against Dunn can be found here.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.