According to financial disclosure documents released by the Trump administration, Donald Trump gifted his administrative assistant Natalie Harp and two other young, loyal White House employees each in cash. The three female employees described the amount as a “holiday cash gift” in a public return later last week. According to an annual report submitted to the US Congress, the amount of these gifts is about one-third of their annual salary of 150,000 US dollars during their respective tenure in the White House. White House chief ethics attorney Richard Painter during George W. Bush's presidency said that these payments appear to be in violation of a federal regulation that prohibits the use of external funds to supplement federal employees' salaries. Painter said that according to convention, government ethics regulators will be wary of situations where companies that have hired federal officials try to provide additional funding to reduce the financial burden of the official during his tenure in the government. He added that if an employer gives a holiday gift to an employee at home, the gift will be treated as part of the employee's income. According to the law, both the party issuing the additional income and the party receiving the payment are legally liable. The Trump administration's Department of Justice may choose not to enforce the law, but the statute of limitations for the case is five years. Trump's term will be over in a little over two years.

According to financial disclosure documents released by the Trump administration, Donald Trump gifted his administrative assistant Natalie Harp and two other young, loyal White House employees each in cash. The three female employees described the amount as a “holiday cash gift” in a public return later last week. According to an annual report submitted to the US Congress, the amount of these gifts is about one-third of their annual salary of 150,000 US dollars during their respective tenure in the White House. White House chief ethics attorney Richard Painter during George W. Bush's presidency said that these payments appear to be in violation of a federal regulation that prohibits the use of external funds to supplement federal employees' salaries. Painter said that according to convention, government ethics regulators will be wary of situations where companies that have hired federal officials try to provide additional funding to reduce the financial burden of the official during his tenure in the government. He added that if an employer gives a holiday gift to an employee at home, the gift will be treated as part of the employee's income. According to the law, both the party issuing the additional income and the party receiving the payment are legally liable. The Trump administration's Department of Justice may choose not to enforce the law, but the statute of limitations for the case is five years. Trump's term will be over in a little over two years.