Trump White House: Ethics? What ethics?

Most historians agree that the most ethically challenged Presidential administration were those led by Presidents Ronald Reagan, Richard M. Nixon, Warren G. Harding, Ulysses S. Grant and Andrew Jackson.

To be fair, Presidents Grant and Reagan were not themselves corrupt, but were unlucky enough to have been surrounded by unscrupulous staffers and con-men. Both men were fairly honest, but their administrations were marred by a long series of scandals.

The other Presidents on the "most corrupt" list were indeed shifty. Nixon was forced to resign as a result of the Watergate scandal, but he had also authorized the infamous break-in into Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office; Harding was a womanizer who, as a senator, was blackmailed by his mistress, who threatened to "tell all" if he didn't vote a certain way. Harding is also infamous for his participation in the Teapot Dome scandal. And Andrew Jackson?

Per attn.com: Jackson was unable to keep federal offices nonpartisan and rewarded lucrative jobs to donors, friends, business associates, newspaper editors who had written in support of Jackson, Army veterans, and seemingly random characters.

The result was a cavalcade of theft and corruption in distant offices and military posts, including $1.2 million embezzled from the New York City Customs House, the most lucrative point of entry in the U.S.

But if the present Administration doesn't stop its unethical shenanigans, the 45th President of the U.S. and his aides will be remembered as the most corrupt group ever to walk the halls of the White House.

Today, for instance, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the President, had to be given a lecture on ethical behavior.

According to an article by NBC News, Conway violated ethics laws when she touted Ivanka Trump's products after Nordstrom announced it was dumping Ms. Trump's line because it's not selling well.

"Go buy Ivanka's stuff," Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, told Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy.

Ivanka Trump has a "wonderful line," Conway added. "I own some of it. I fully, I'm gonna just going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today everybody. You can find it online."

This revelation comes only days after First Lady Melania Trump filed a lawsuit against Britain's Daily Mail and its parent company, Mail Media for publishing false allegations (which were later retracted with a public apology) that had "cost her $150m in lost money-making opportunities."

Per The Economist, "Without referring explicitly to Mrs Trump’s position as first lady, the lawsuit implied that that was the basis for the claim. It argued that Mrs Trump had “the unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity … to launch a broad-based commercial brand in multiple product categories, each of which could have garnered multi-million dollar business relationships for a multi-year term during which Plaintiff is one of the most photographed women in the world."

While it is not acceptable to accuse the President's wife of having been a well-paid call girl before her marriage, it is more unseemly for the First Lady to even give any appearance of wanting to use her position to have "multi-million dollar business relationships for a multi-year term." 

Of course, this apparent disregard for decorum and basic ethical behavior is not surprising. After all, we're talking about an Administration who shills the First Lady's jewelry on the White House's official website. 

This is what the White House website has to say about Mr. 45's wife: 

Melania is also a successful entrepreneur. In April 2010, Melania Trump launched her own jewelry collection.