Judge and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro got a big boost for her new book on Tuesday when President Donald Trump posed with it in photos taken in the Oval Office.
Pirro posted photos on Twitter of herself smiling with the president and holding a copy of her new book, Liars, Leakers and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy.
She commented: “I think @realDonaldTrump likes it!!!”
Trump has a long track record of endorsing, retweeting and praising the businesses and endeavors of conservatives supportive to his presidency, raising questions about potential ethics violations.
The president is known for his freewheeling social media use and has often used his Twitter account to promote political books by supporters.
The Office of Government Ethics, which holds only an advisory role to the president, states that employees of the executive branch “may not use their Government positions to suggest that the agency or any part of the executive branch endorses an organization (including a nonprofit organization), product, service, or person.”
Larry Noble, senior director of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, told ThinkProgress in 2017 that Trump’s tendency to promote politically slanted products “is considered inappropriate and a violation of ethical principles for the president to endorse products or businesses.”
“But this is just one of many examples of President Trump ignoring the ethical norms,” Noble said.
Richard Painter, an ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, noted to Business Insider that it wasn’t illegal for Trump to endorse political books but called the practice “tacky” and “without precedent.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump and Pirro’s friendship dates back decades, and the former Westchester County Court judge has been a fierce and vocal supporter of the president from the infancy of his candidacy.
Her support for the president, and her claim that those critical of him have “Trump derangement syndrome,” led to Whoopi Goldberg telling Pirro to “Get the fuck out of the building” during a heated exchange on “The View” last week.
Pirro has reportedly told advisers to the president that she hopes to snag the country’s top law enforcement position from Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whom she denounced in a meeting with Trump in the Oval Office last year.
The president has reportedly also dangled the possibility of nominating Pirro to a federal judgeship, Politico reported in June.