A tweet by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders about her ejection from a Virginia restaurant broke federal ethics rules, a leading expert said. On Saturday, using her official White House account, Sanders posted: “Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington [Virginia] to leave because I work for POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me.

“I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so.” Walter Shaub, federal ethics chief under Barack Obama and briefly Trump and now a fierce critic of the administration, responded: “Sanders used her official govt account to condemn a private business for personal reasons … she can lob attacks on her own time but not using her official position.”

The controversy came at the end of a week of fierce debate over a Trump policy which mandated the separation of children from their parents when such families entered the US illegally. Between April and early June, according to federal statistics, more than 2,300 children were taken. On Wednesday, amidst international condemnation and with even Republican supporters in Congress beginning to waver, Donald Trump signed an executive order nominally – but not conclusively – stopping the practice.(theguardian)…[+]