Meena Harris, Vice President Kamala Harris’s diligent and outspoken niece, is creating an optics issue for the White House.
Meena, 36, flew to the grand opening on a private plane from a Biden inaugural donor and posted about the trip in her Instagram stories.
The Stanford and Harvard law graduate has a children’s book about her aunt and mother that ranks fourth on the New York Times bestseller list – “The Great Idea of Kamala and Maya.”
MILWAUKEE, WI – AUGUST 19: In this screenshot of the DNCC live broadcast of the 2020 National Democratic Convention, Meena Harris, Kamala Harris’s niece, speaks at the virtual convention on August 19, 2020. (Photo by DNCC via Getty Images) (Photo by Brochure / DNCC via Getty Images)
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The book was published in June 2020, before Kamala became vice president and therefore does not violate any laws. But White House officials told Politico that the book could not have been published today because it uses Kamala’s name and image. It is not clear whether Meena is allowed to continue to receive royalties for the book, and she did not say whether she still has it.
After members of President Biden’s family seemed to profit from his political influence during his years as a senator and vice president, the White House tried to distance itself from any other ethical violations. “It is White House policy that the President’s name is not used in connection with any commercial activities to suggest or in any way that could reasonably be understood to mean his endorsement or support,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki Sixth. -market.
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In December, transition lawyers said they were drafting new ethical rules for commercial ventures by the Biden and Harris families that “are likely to be more restrictive than the rules that governed the Obama administration,” according to The Washington Post.
The VP office is taking the same stance. “The vice president and his family will maintain the highest ethical standards and it is the White House policy that the name of the vice president is not used in any commercial activity that can reasonably be understood as an indication of endorsement or support,” Sabrina Singh , spokesman 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 series of items for her Phenomenal clothing brand that revealed her aunt’s name – the “Kamala Harris swimsuit”, ” phenomenal Kamala tank “and” Kamala T-shirt. “The items that appeared last fall are no longer listed on your website.
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Phenomenal sold other items referencing Kamala during the campaign, including an MVP sweatshirt, which means “Madam Vice President” and another with the phrase “I’m talking” on the front, alluding to Kamala’s repeated speech during her debate with the ex -Vice President Mike Pence.
After Biden chose Kamala as his running mate in August, Meena convinced Biden’s team to sell a shirt at the campaign store with her name and that of her influential colleague Cleo Wade. The shirt said “THE FIRST, BUT NOT THE LAST”, next to a photo of a young Kamala, referring to Kamala’s historic oath as first female vice president.
Biden’s campaign agreed, but on September 6, Meena’s name was removed as a collaborator, according to an Internet file unearthed by the Politico.
“For the sake of appearance, Meena’s name was removed because we didn’t want to give the impression that she was benefiting or profiting from the campaign,” said a White House official, adding that neither Meena nor Wade made money from the shirt. .
This month, Meena was slapped on the hand again by ethics lawyers when in a collaboration with Beats by Dre, her clothing company adorned the same phrase “The First But Not The Last”, for Beats headphones that sent to influencers and celebrities before the inauguration. The Biden team was not notified in advance of the collaboration, 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, Phenomenal Productions.
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The day before the Opening Day, the Supermajority Education Fund released an ad with clips of Kamala produced by Meena and the company. The White House would have said it did not know whether Meena was paid for her time in producing the ad, but if she was, it would be a violation of ethics. Asked if she was paid for the majority, Meena did not respond.