Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, has asked the Office of Government Ethics to investigate comments made by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin about the children's movie "The Lego Batman Movie."
The comments in question came during a live interview with Axios on Friday, when Mnuchin was asked for a movie recommendation, according to a Tuesday report from Reuters. Mnuchin has produced several successful movies, including "Avatar," "Mad Max: Fury Road," and "The Lego Batman Movie."
"I'm not allowed to promote anything that I'm involved in. So I just want to have the legal disclosure, you've asked me the question, and I am not promoting any product. But you should send all your kids to 'Lego Batman,'" Mnuchin said to laughter from the crowd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPRFiwIO40M&feature=youtu.be
"The Lego Batman Movie" was produced by Ratpac-Dune Entertainment Holdings LLC, which was co-founded by Mnuchin. The Treasury Secretary has agreed to divest his holdings in Ratpac within his first 120 days as secretary; however Wyden says he has not yet received confirmation that Mnuchin has divested.
In a letter to Director of the Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub, Wyden wrote, "I am concerned that Sec. Mnuchin’s comments, may be seen to have a predictable effect on the financial interests [of Ratpac-Dune]."
A Treasury Department spokesperson responded to the news in a statement writing, "As his statement reflects, the Secretary clearly recognized that he generally may not promote private interests and specifically gave the legal disclosure that he was not promoting a movie, but answering a question he was asked directly."