President-elect Donald Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, would be prohibited from communicating with the alt-right website he used to run, Breitbart News, while serving in the White House, according to ethics rules currently in place.

Bannon’s appointment stoked fear among liberals and conservatives alike that he would utilize the fiery Breitbart.com — a site that regularly attacks House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republicans, as well as liberal Democrats — as a semi-official house organ to promote Trump’s policies and attack his critics.


But existing White House ethics rules prohibit officials from dealing with their former employers for at least a year — meaning Bannon would have to scrupulously avoid any contact with Breitbart.

As president, Trump could waive that rule. But Bannon would still be subject to a law that bans officials from doing anything that would benefit their former employers, if they have any financial interests or an agreement to return.

Bannon was the company’s chairman until he took a leave oversee Trump's campaign in August. He later indicated that he planned to return.

Norm Eisen, a White House ethics lawyer for President Barack Obama, told POLITICO that Bannon must recuse himself from contact with Breitbart for two years, under existing White House rules. He also called on Bannon to reveal whether he has any financial ties to Breitbart.

Bannon must do so within 30 days of taking office, but Eisen said he should make the declaration as soon as possible, given the concerns about Breitbart's connections to the Trump White House.

“He’s putting himself, the president that he will serve, and the administration at risk,” Eisen said.

Bannon’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment. The Trump transition office did not respond to requests for comment.

If the Trump administration were to rescind or waive the ethics rules to allow Bannon to make contact with Breitbart, it could prove embarrassing for the nascent administration. Bannon’s links to allegedly racist, sexist and anti-Semitic content on the Breitbart news site have made him a top target of liberal critics, along with some conservatives. A decision to waive the rules for Bannon would be an acknowledgment of the site’s special status in Trump’s administration, ethicists said.

But even a waiver from Trump wouldn’t suffice if Bannon owns stock in Breitbart or is guaranteed a job there when he leaves government. That would make it a criminal offense for Bannon to do anything that would enrich Breitbart, such favoring the organization for West Wing scoops.

“If we are going to have a United States version of Pravda, and that’s what Breitbart aspires to, I think that’s going to be a major ethics problem,” said Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush.

If Bannon doesn’t own stock or have a guaranteed job but received any kind of bonus when he left, a statute requires him to recuse himself from any matter involving the company. Even without a bonus, he must recuse himself for a year, under the “consideration of appearance” rule, which requires the appearance of impartiality.

Under such a scenario, Bannon couldn’t give Breitbart preferential treatment from the White House, but he could potentially continue to influence their coverage in a way that didn’t give them anything in return, according to Painter. For example, he could encourage his former colleagues to attack other government officials.

However, there is another rule that could prevent the White House from using Breitbart as its mouthpiece: The executive branch can’t recruit private entities to do its work, Painter said. But that law is enforced by the attorney general, who would be appointed by Trump, and the oversight committees in Congress, which are controlled by Republicans.

This is not the first time a person has joined the White House from a journalistic background.

When Shailagh Murray, a Washington Post reporter, became assistant for communications to Vice President Joe Biden, the Obama administration waived its ethics rules to allow her to contact the newspaper. Murray had no continuing financial interest in the Post.

“Without this waiver, Ms. Murray would be unable to communicate with the media outlets owned or controlled by The Washington Post Company,” the vice president’s ethics lawyer declared at the time.

Jay Carney joined the White House from Time magazine, but his role was different from Bannon’s because he was lower-ranking, Eisen said.

Carney declined to comment through a spokeswoman.

Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.