A watchdog group filed a complaint with the Office of Government Ethics over President Donald Trump’s cash gifts to aide Natalie Harp and two other White House employees, calling for an investigation into whether the payments were in “violation of criminal law.”
In its complaint, the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center said the $45,000 payments, which amount to roughly one-third of each aide’s $150,000 annual salary, appear to violate a federal statute that prohibits the supplementation of federal employees’ salaries from outside sources. If the ethics office determines that to be the case, the complaint states it should refer the matter to the Justice Department.
Financial disclosures released earlier this month, first reported by The Washington Post, show Harp, communications adviser Margo Martin and deputy director of Oval Office operations Chamberlain Harris each listing a $45,000 payment from Trump described as a “Cash Gift for Holidays.” Trump also gave director of Oval Office operations Walt Nauta, who is paid $175,000 a year, a $20,000 cash gift around the same time, according to the disclosures.
Campaign Legal Center’s complaint alleges the payments each staffer received unlawfully raised their salaries above a $195,200 cap for senior full-time White House employees in 2025.
“The government salaries of Harp, Harris, Martin, and Nauta were lower than that maximum, owing to their junior titles and positions. However, the separate additional payments from the President appear to have supplemented their salaries, effectively
compensating them at a maximum government rate for which they were ineligible,” the complaint states.
The White House has denied that the cash gifts violated federal law.
“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,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Post. “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 four recipients of Trump’s gifts have not publicly commented on the matter.
Campaign Legal Center called for an additional investigation to determine whether other executive branch employees received similar gifts and failed to report them.
“Laws prohibiting government employees from receiving supplemental income exist to ensure that public servants’ priorities remain focused on public service,” the group said in a statement, “not a wealthy benefactor who may have other objectives in mind.”
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