President Donald Trump's decision to give close aide Natalie Harp a $45,000 cash gift has sparked debate among experts, with a former White House ethics lawyer arguing the payment violates a federal criminal statute that restricts outside compensation for government employees. Financial disclosure records show Harp reported receiving a "$45,000 cash gift for holidays" from Trump. Richard Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under former President George W.
Bush, told Newsweek he believes the payments violate federal law and could ultimately carry both legal and political consequences, including impeachment. The disclosure has prompted questions about whether the payment was simply a personal gift from the president or could be viewed as supplementing a federal employee's government salary. Harp was not the only White House employee to receive money from Trump.
Financial disclosures show communications adviser Margo Martin and White House aide Chamberlain Harris each reported receiving a $45,000 cash gift from the president. Oval Office operations director Walt Nauta disclosed a separate $20,000 gift. All three aides had longstanding relationships with Trump before joining the current administration.
Harp joined Trump's political operation in 2022 before later moving into the White House, while Martin worked in Trump's first administration and remained with his post-presidential staff in Florida. Harris also served in Trump's first administration and later worked for his political organizations before returning to the White House in 2025. Painter said those prior working relationships are central to his concerns.
"Employers and employees don't have gift-giving relationships," he told Newsweek. "I think that's a classic case of supplementation of government salary where the private sector employer says, 'You're now going into government, you make less in government, we'll supplement your salary.'" The gifts were substantial when compared with the aides' annual salaries. Harp, Martin and Harris each earn about $150,000 per year, meaning the $45,000 payments amounted to roughly 30 percent of their annual compensation.
The White House told Newsweek: "The President has a longstanding practice of giving Christmas gifts to people in his orbit, including at times employees and aides, both in government and in his time in the private sector. The gifts at issue here have nothing to do with any of these individuals’ official government duties, and therefore are entirely permissible under relevant legal and ethical standards." The law at the center of the controversy is 18 U.S.C. § 209, titled "Salary of Government officials and employees payable only by United States." The statute generally prohibits executive branch employees from receiving compensation, or a supplement to their salary, from a source other than the federal government for their services as government employees. The statute does not prohibit all financial benefits federal employees receive.
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