Story highlights The training was canceled days before inauguration

The White House counsel's office did provide ethics training, administration says

(CNN) President Donald Trump's transition team, days before he took office, nixed plans for an orientation class that would have prepared political appointees and White House staff for a series of ethical and legal issues, documents provided to CNN show.

The ethics program proposed by the General Services Administration would have helped White House staff and political appointees get through Senate confirmation hearings, work with Congress and corresponding agencies and comply with laws and executive orders -- all issues Trump nominees and staff have confronted during their first six weeks in office.

The Trump administration said Thursday that the White House Counsel's office did provide political appointees and executive branch staff ethics training when they came into office.

"Required trainings, including ethics, were provided to appointees by in-house counsels prior to assuming office," said Stephanie Grisham, a White House spokeswoman. "It was a requirement for everyone. In-house counsel has been taking it very seriously from the beginning."

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