In sum, Nordstrom made a business decision not to do business with the president’s daughter because her clothing line was not selling well,br and the president used his official position to attack the company for this decision.br It is a clear violation of federal ethics rules for White House staff members, orbr any other federal employees, to use their official positions for private gain.br The message is clear, and it won’t take much for a political appointee in some agency to conceive of an ingeniousbr way of ingratiating himself with the White House by making life difficult for the store chain.br Nordstrom interacts with many executive branch agencies: the Department of Labor, the Federal Trade Commission, the Securitiesbr and Exchange Commission, the Internal Revenue Service and others.br The president’s tweet — posted on his personal account and then re-sent from his White House account — is an act of intimidation.