White House director of Strategic Initiatives Christopher Liddell is being accused of potentially violating criminal conflict of interest laws. | Getty CREW accuses Trump White House aide of violating conflict of interest laws

The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is accusing a top White House official of potentially violating criminal conflict of interest laws by playing a role in meetings with major companies in which he also appeared to have held millions of dollars in stock.

The group filed its complaint Tuesday against Christopher Liddell, a former executive with Microsoft and General Motors who was appointed by President Donald Trump to be an assistant to the president and director of strategic initiatives. It said Liddell might have broken the law over three days in January and early February by participating in policy meetings between Trump and leaders from as many as 18 companies that he also had a financial interest in, including Ford Motor Co., Johnson & Johnson and GM.


In filing its complaint, the group cited Liddell’s certificate of divestiture forms, issued Feb. 9 by the Office of Government Ethics, which listed the companies he and his wife held stocks in through a trust.

But CREW noted that the White House meetings — which covered tax, regulatory, infrastructure and investment policies — took place on Jan. 23 and 24, as well as on Feb. 3, before his divestiture certificate came out. CREW said in its complaint that the timing discrepancy “strongly indicates Mr. Liddell still held stock in the companies at that point and had not divested his financial interests in these assets prior to his participation in the meetings.”

The group’s letter to White House Counsel Don McGahn asked him to determine whether a Justice Department investigation was necessary.

Asked to comment on CREW’s complaint, a White House spokeswoman replied that Liddell has been working with McGahn’s office “to ensure he is fully compliant with his legal and ethical obligations in connection with his holdings and his duties in the White House.”

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Before joining the Trump White House, the New Zealand-born Liddell served as CFO of Microsoft, International Paper, WME-IMG and General Motors. He also was executive director of Mitt Romney’s 2012 transition planning team.

At the time of his appointment in January, Trump noted Liddell’s résumé leading “large, complex companies in the private sector” and hailed his experience as “exactly what is needed to effect substantial change, including system wide improvement to the performance of the government.”