U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, right, speaks with Majority Whip, Rep. Francis D. Gibson, left, during the House Majority Caucus at the Utah State Capitol Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017, in Salt Lake City. Chaffetz... (Associated Press) 
 
 U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, right, speaks with Majority Whip, Rep. Francis D. Gibson, left, during the House Majority Caucus at the Utah State Capitol Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017, in Salt Lake City. Chaffetz says he's hopeful President Donald Trump will repeal the newly-named Bears Ears National Monument in... (Associated Press) 
 
 COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz was met by frequent, deafening boos at a Thursday town hall as constituents grilled him on everything from investigating President Donald Trump's tax returns to Planned Parenthood. 
 
 A young girl asked the Republican about his plans to protect the air and water and the crowd booed when he replied that supports an all-of-the-above energy strategy, which includes mining for coal. 
 
 "We have a major problem here in Salt Lake Valley, with the inversion," Chaffetz said. He told the crowd gathered at a high school in a Salt Lake City suburb that he supports solar energy, but that it can have its own negative impact on animals and wildlife. 
 
 The chairman of the House Oversight Committee repeatedly said, "hold on," and "give me a second," as the audience members reacted negatively to nearly all of his statements. 
 
 Hundreds of people stood outside the auditorium holding signs and chanting, "Vote him out," while one woman was arrested and put into handcuffs. 
 
 Chaffetz said earlier in the day that he hopes Trump will repeal the newly-named Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah, something he discussed with the president during a Tuesday meeting at the White House. 
 
 Chaffetz said Trump's Interior Secretary nominee, U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana, wants to see Bears Ears before making any commitments about what, if anything, the Trump administration will do. 
 
 President Barack Obama named the monument in December after several years of lobbying from a coalition of Native Americans who said the protection was needed for the sacred tribal lands. 
 
 Holly Cobb Robinson from Salt Lake City said the congressman's push to repeal the monument would result in more drilling and mining for coal, which would destroy the land. 
 
 "Protecting your public lands provides a better future for not only communities and people who are visiting, but also habitats and revenue," she said. 
 
 The town hall comes as Chaffetz spends time in his home state, speaking to the state's lawmakers and visiting with Muslim leaders. 
 
 The congressman spoke with Muslim leaders Wednesday in Salt Lake City, and said that Trump's ban was rushed but singled out the "the right countries." 
 
 Muslim leaders told the congressman that people stuck in refugee camps aren't safe and that the ban caused great anxiety among Muslim-Americans. 
 
 The Mormon congressman said he empathizes and if Trump imposes a "religious litmus test," he'll push back. 
 
 Thursday, he encouraged lawmakers — mostly fellow Mormons — to visit mosques and reach out to Muslims in their community, noting that those "people that have been vetted." 
 
 "We should know a few things about being a religious minority," he said. 
 
 Utah lawmakers asked Chaffetz if he'd use his role as the powerful chairman of the House Oversight Committee to investigate Trump's business interests. 
 
 "My job is not to be a cheerleader for the president," Chaffetz said. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Price reported from Salt Lake City. ||||| poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201702/2333/1155968404_5317511643001_5317498399001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Kellyanne Conway under fire for promoting Ivanka's brand White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Conway had 'been counseled on that subject, and that's it.' 
 
 Kellyanne Conway used her platform Thursday to urge Americans to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff,” prompting a wave of backlash for potentially violating ethics rules governing the executive branch. 
 
 Standing in the White House press briefing room, Conway, a counselor to the president, encouraged Americans to purchase Ivanka Trump’s products, one day after President Donald Trump himself lashed out at the luxury retailer Nordstrom for dropping his daughter’s clothing line. 
 
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 “It’s a wonderful line. I own some of it,” Conway told “Fox & Friends.” “I fully — I’m going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.” 
 
 Conway’s remark appears to violate the executive branch’s ban on staff endorsing products or companies. The regulation, from the Office of Government Ethics, also prohibits using public office for private gain of oneself or friends or relatives. 
 
 Under the regulation, OGE’s director can notify the employee of the violation and ask the agency to investigate. The director can recommend discipline, including suspension, loss of pay or termination, but would probably just issue a warning for a first offense. 
 
 Conway said Thursday night on Fox News that she had spoken with the president about the controversy and said it was a “very heartening moment.” 
 
 “I am just really happy that I spent an awful lot of time of the president of the United States this afternoon and that he supports me 100 percent,” she said. 
 
 At his daily briefing, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Conway had "been counseled on that subject, and that's it," declining to further elaborate on whether the White House believed the counselor to the president had crossed a line. 
 
 But lawmakers suggested that it did. Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the chairman and ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, respectively, wrote in a letter to OGE Director Walter Shaub that Conway’s interview “raised extremely serious concerns.” 
 
 “As the director of OGE, you have authority to review potential ethics violations and notify the employee’s agency, which in this case is the White House,” they said. “In this case, there is an additional challenge, which is that the President, as the ultimate disciplinary authority for White House employees, has an inherent conflict of interest since Conway’s statements relate to his daughter’s private business.” 
 
 They asked that OGE “review Conway’s statement and act promptly on the basis of your findings,” as well as report back to the House panel with a recommendation for disciplinary action, if necessary. 
 
 Cummings earlier Thursday had said in a letter to Chaffetz, “This appears to be a textbook violation of government ethics laws and regulations enacted to prevent the abuse of an employee’s government position,” and asked for a committee “review and potential disciplinary action.” 
 
 Chaffetz seemed to agree, telling The Associated Press that Conway’s remark was “wrong, wrong, wrong, clearly over the line, unacceptable.” 
 
 "It needs to be dealt with," Chaffetz had said. "There's no ifs, ands or buts about it." 
 
 A host of liberal, progressive and nonpartisan advocacy groups filed complaints against Conway, including the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed its complaint with both OGE and the White House Counsel’s Office. 
 
 “Ms. Conway appears to have violated both the letter and the spirit of these rules when she used her position to endorse the accessories and clothing line of Ms. Trump, the daughter of the president,” the CREW complaint says. “Furthermore, we are concerned about what appears to be a pattern developing of the use of official offices, particularly the White House and the Executive Office of the President, to benefit business interests of relatives and supporters of the president; Ms. Conway’s comments appear to be just the latest example of this trend.” 
 
 Ordinarily, a violation in the White House would be dealt with by the White House counsel. But it’s not clear how the regulation will be enforced under a president who, based on his own statement Wednesday, seems likely to approve of what Conway said. (The president himself is technically exempt from the regulation, but White House policy has long applied it to him.) 
 
 Likely sparked by Conway's remark, web traffic to the OGE's website surged Thursday to the point that it became inaccessible for much of the day. On Twitter, the office wrote that "OGE’s website, phone system and email system are receiving an extraordinary volume of contacts from citizens about recent events.” The office later added that it "does not have investigative or enforcement authority.” 
 
 An OGE spokesman said the agency was "looking at ways to redirect traffic and add capacity" to make its website accessible again. 
 
 Citing declining sales for Ivanka Trump’s label, Nordstrom announced earlier this month that it would no longer carry her line, a move that sparked anger from Donald Trump, who tweeted Wednesday that his daughter had “been treated so unfairly” by the department store. 
 
 Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, have been highly visible members of the administration since Donald Trump took office just under three weeks ago. The president’s daughter accompanied him to Dover Air Force Base last week for the return of the remains of a Navy SEAL killed during a raid in Yemen and has advised him on policy issues, including the environment and parental leave. 
 
 Conway told Fox News she found it “ironic that you’ve got some executives all over the internet bragging about what they’ve done to [Ivanka] and her line.” 
 
 “Yet, they’re using the most prominent woman in Donald Trump’s — you know, most prominent — she’s his daughter, and they’re using her, who has been a champion for women empowerment, women in the workplace, to get to him,” she continued. “I think people could see through that. Go buy Ivanka's stuff is what I would tell you. I hate shopping. I’m going to go get some myself today.” 
 
 While Nordstrom claimed that the decision to drop Ivanka Trump’s line of clothing and shoes was based solely on business, at least some of the decline in sales of her products could be attributed to the #GrabYourWallet campaign urging consumers to boycott Trump products. 
 
 Nordstrom also hasn’t shied away from voicing opposition to Trump’s policies, releasing a statement in support of immigrants in the wake of the president’s executive order temporarily banning individuals from certain Muslim-majority nations from entering the U.S. in the name of national security. The retailer announced its decision to drop Ivanka Trump’s line three days after releasing that statement. 
 
 On Fox News, Conway called Ivanka Trump a “very successful businesswoman” and an “incredibly confident, creative, talented woman” and indicated that should be welcomed into a role at the White House to work on women's empowerment issues, if she so chooses. 
 
 “Obviously, she’s stepped away from it now, but in the past she’s helped to run her family’s real estate empire, and on the side she developed another fully, unbelievably, entrepreneurial, wildly successful business that bears her name,” Conway added. “And I think she’s gone from 800 stores to 1,000 stores or 1,000 places where you can buy — you can certainly buy her goods online. She’s just at a very good place.” 
 
 Kyle Cheney contributed to this report. ||||| The White House on Thursday said that a top adviser to President Trump had been “counseled” after using a television appearance from the West Wing to promote the clothing and jewelry line sold under the brand of Trump’s daughter. 
 
 The endorsement, in which Kellyanne Conway told Fox News Channel viewers to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff,” appeared to violate a key ethics rule barring federal employees from using their public office to endorse products. The White House reaction was a rare acknowledgment of an ethical misstep. 
 
 Conway’s remarks drew a sharp and unusual rebuke from a top Republican lawmaker, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who said that Conway’s comments were “absolutely wrong, wrong, wrong” and “clearly over the line.” 
 
 Chaffetz, who has resisted calls by Democrats to investigate potential conflicts related to President Trump’s businesses, joined with the Oversight Committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), in sending a letter to the Office of Government Ethics calling Conway’s comments “unacceptable.” The letter asked the agency to recommend discipline given that Trump, who is Conway’s “agency head,” holds an “inherent conflict of interest” due to the involvement of his daughter’s business. 
 
 In a terse comment to reporters Thursday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that Conway had been “counseled on the subject” but did not say whether she would be disciplined. Spicer did not say why Conway’s statements had required the intervention, and the White House declined to answer further questions. 
 
 President Trump’s counselor Kellyanne Conway at the White House on Jan .24. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) 
 
 Speaking on Fox News Thursday evening, Conway declined to comment but said Trump supports her “100 percent.” 
 
 Conway said she advised all women to, at some point in their life, have a boss who treats them “the way the president of the United States treated me today.” 
 
 The incident was the latest illustration of how the Trump White House has struggled to grapple with long-established ethics rules as the president has attempted to balance the potentially competing interests of his new public position and his family’s vast business holdings. 
 
 The matter has grown politically thorny in recent weeks as many opponents of Trump’s policies have waged a campaign to boycott the family’s brands and protest at its properties. The tensions underscore the difficulty Trump faces in carrying through on his vow to separate his presidency from his businesses — particularly given that he and his daughter have refused to divest their ownership stakes. 
 
 The president has faced criticism from ethics experts and Democratic lawmakers who have warned that his public power could be misused to enrich him and his family. Trump has turned over the management of his businesses to his two adult sons and a longtime executive. 
 
 Although Trump has said that most ethics laws and rules do not apply to the president, Conway’s stumble Thursday served as a reminder that staffers are nonetheless subject to those provisions. 
 
 The Conway episode followed other instances in which Trump’s political rise and his presidency have provided a promotional platform for the family businesses. 
 
 1 of 10 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Controversial comments from Kellyanne Conway that made headlines View Photos Conway, counselor to President Trump, coined the term “alternative facts” and referred to a “Bowling Green massacre” that never happened. Caption Conway, counselor to President Trump, coined the term “alternative facts” and referred to a “Bowling Green massacre” that never happened. The government has many ways to surveil “What I can say is there are many ways to surveil each other now, unfortunately,” including “microwaves that turn into cameras, et cetera,” Conway told the Bergen Record in an interview Sunday. “So we know that that is just a fact of modern life,”Conway told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” READ THE STORY Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 On Monday, first lady Melania Trump filed a lawsuit accusing a British news company of publishing an inaccurate story that hurt her ability to take advantage of a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to build her brand of jewelry and accessories. The lawsuit said that the August 2016 article, which falsely suggested that Melania Trump had once worked for an escort service, damaged her ability to build “multimillion dollar business relationships for a multi-year term” and damaged her brand during a time when Trump “is one of the most photographed women in the world.” 
 
 A day later, after ethics experts criticized the notion of Melania Trump attempting to make money from her public role, her attorney and a spokeswoman issued statements saying that the first lady “has no intention” of using her position for profit. 
 
 The first family has struggled to cleanse its public appearances of private entanglements. 
 
 In his official biography on the White House website, Donald Trump boasts of the success of the business he still owns and cites his book “The Art of the Deal,” which remains for sale. 
 
 Melania Trump’s initial online biography referenced her jewelry line, once sold on the cable television channel QVC, and noted its trademark, a registration now overseen by a federal office led by her husband. 
 
 Ivanka Trump, whose brand includes dresses, shoes, skirts, handbags, jewelry and accessories, much of which is sold online and at dozens of the United States’ largest retailers and department-store chains, mixed her business and newly elevated political profile shortly after the election. 
 
 Hours after she was interviewed by CBS’s “60 Minutes” about her father’s victory, her jewelry line alerted journalists to the fact that she was wearing an ­Ivanka-brand diamond bracelet, which viewers could buy for $10,800. 
 
 Conway’s endorsement of Ivanka Trump’s brand followed a tweet Wednesday by President Trump complaining that his daughter had “been treated so unfairly” by the department store Nordstrom, which dropped her clothing line, citing slow sales. 
 
 Conway touted Ivanka Trump’s “wonderful line” of clothing and shoes during an interview Thursday morning with “Fox & Friends” from the White House briefing room. 
 
 Responding to national boycotts of Ivanka Trump merchandise, Conway said, “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff is what I would tell you.” 
 
 “I’m going to give a free commercial here,” she added. “Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.” 
 
 Experts quickly seized on Conway’s remarks as a direct violation of Office of Government Ethics rules. Don W. Fox, a former OGE acting director and general counsel, said Conway’s statements were “jaw-dropping” and “a clear violation of rules prohibiting misuse of public office for anyone’s private gain.” 
 
 Peter Schweizer, who has worked closely with Trump chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon and wrote a book, “Clinton Cash,” that was critical of donations to the Clinton Foundation, said, “They’ve crossed a very, very important, bright line, and it’s not good.” 
 
 “To encourage Americans to buy goods from companies owned by the first family is totally out of bounds and needs to stop,” ­Schweizer added. “Clearly, the Trumps feel some of this is related to politics. But whether that’s true or not, these marketing battles need to be fought by Ivanka and her company. They cannot and should not be fought by government employees and the White House.” 
 
 Schweizer said that it was time for Trump “to move beyond the mind-set and the role of a businessman and assume the mantle of commander in chief.” 
 
 Federal law states that the director of the Office of Government Ethics can advise the White House and Conway of the violation and recommend disciplinary action. But the OGE’s recommendations are nonbinding, and the ultimate decision resides with the White House. 
 
 OGE officials did not respond to requests for comment. By midmorning, the agency’s website had crashed, and the OGE’s official Twitter account said that the office’s phone and email systems were receiving “an extraordinary volume” of citizen input about “recent events.” 
 
 The office tweeted that its role is to help prevent ethics violations but not to investigate allegations that rules have been broken — a job reserved for the FBI, inspectors general and other watchdogs. Still, the OGE notifies agencies of possible ethics violations and asks for reports on any action taken, a process the office indicated it is “actively following,” according to the OGE’s tweets. 
 
 Experts said that a typical ­executive-branch employee who violated the endorsement rule could face significant disciplinary action, including a multi-day suspension and loss of pay. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees, for instance, face a five-day suspension or termination for using public office for private gain. 
 
 But enforcement measures are largely left to the head of the federal agency — in Conway’s case, the White House. Conway’s counseling, independent lawyers said, could have included a meeting with members of the White House counsel’s office, but it remained unclear what disciplinary steps would be taken. 
 
 Independent ethics groups and Trump critics targeted the endorsement as a make-or-break moment for how the White House will address future ethical concerns. 
 
 Noah Bookbinder, director of the liberal Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed an official ethics complaint, called Conway’s comments “just another example of what looks like a disturbing pattern of this administration acting to benefit the businesses of the president’s family and supporters.” 
 
 Conway’s endorsement of Ivanka Trump’s business also highlighted an awkward reality for a White House threatening U.S. companies seeking to move jobs or operations overseas. Nearly all Ivanka-brand merchandise is manufactured in low-cost-labor countries, including China, Indonesia and Vietnam. 
 
 The president and his daughter have taken steps to put distance between their private companies and public ambitions. Both resigned their official leadership roles in the Trump Organization. 
 
 Ivanka Trump retains a financial interest in her separate business. The Trump company says the president does not have a financial interest or ownership stake in the Ivanka brand. 
 
 [Fact Checker: Trump’s claim Ivanka is being ‘treated so unfairly’ by Nordstrom]
– The chairman of the House Oversight Committee was met by frequent, deafening boos at a Thursday town hall in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, as constituents grilled him on everything from investigating President Trump's tax returns to Planned Parenthood, reports the AP. A young girl asked Rep. Jason Chaffetz about his plans to protect the air and water and the crowd booed when he replied that he supports an all-of-the-above energy strategy, which includes mining for coal. Another exchange that brought cries of "do your job," per NBC News: He was asked about a potential conflict between the presidency and Trump's businesses, something that would fall under the purview of the House Oversight Committee. "You're really not going to like this part: The President, under the law, is exempt from the conflict of interest laws," Chaffetz said. His assertion that Kellyanne Conway was "wrong, wrong, wrong" for plugging Ivanka Trump's clothing line was well received, however. But more jeers greeted his comment that while he believes "if you're going to run for president, you should have to release your tax returns ... it's not required by law," reports the Daily Herald. Chaffetz repeatedly said, "hold on," and "give me a second," as the audience members reacted negatively to nearly all of his statements. Outside, hundreds of people were holding signs and chanting, "Vote him out," while one woman was arrested. Chaffetz said earlier in the day that he hopes Trump will repeal the Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah, something he discussed with the president during a Tuesday meeting. A CNN correspondent tweeted that the town hall ended an hour early.