--- title: Steve Mnuchin 'Lego Batman' Pitch Draws Ethics Concern description: Senator Ron Wyden says the plug might "have a predictable effect on" the finances of one of Mnuchin's companies, which produced the movie. canonical: https://time.com/4714754/steve-mnuchin-ethics-lego-batman-wyden/ author: Kevin Lui article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-28T08:54:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:03:49.411Z article:section: Politics og:title: Call for Ethics Probe Over Steve Mnuchin 'Lego Batman' Plug og:description: Mnuchin's RatPac-Dune Entertainment was involved in the movie's production og:url: https://time.com/4714754/steve-mnuchin-ethics-lego-batman-wyden/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd135cd83ea1c0ba/6988c022196cf40e3303f684/gettyimages-654808462.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: GERMANY-G20-FINANCE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Call for Ethics Probe Over Steve Mnuchin 'Lego Batman' Plug twitter:description: Mnuchin's RatPac-Dune Entertainment was involved in the movie's production twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd135cd83ea1c0ba/6988c022196cf40e3303f684/gettyimages-654808462.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Senator Calls for Ethics Probe Into Steve Mnuchin's _Lego Batman_ Comments by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Mar 28, 2017 8:54 AM UTC  Steve Mnuchin at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany, Mar. 18, 2017. Steve Mnuchin at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany, Mar. 18, 2017.Thomas Kienzle—AFP/Getty Images by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Mar 28, 2017 8:54 AM UTC Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s recent comments appearing to promote [_The Lego Batman Movie_](http://time.com/4676339/lego-batman-movie-the-great-wall-box-office/) has [prompted a Democratic senator](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-treasury-ethics-idUSKBN16Z062) to call on the government ethics watchdog to investigate as a potential ethics violation. Ron Wyden, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, asked the Office of Government Ethics to review Mnuchin’s comments he made during an [on-stage interview](https://www.c-span.org/video/?425894-1/treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin-talks-axios-cofounder-mike-allen) with _Axios_ in Washington on Friday, Reuters reports. When asked for a movie recommendation, Mnuchin said: “I’m not allowed to promote anything that I’m involved in. So I just want to have the legal disclosure, you’ve asked me the question, and I am not promoting any product,” adding, “But you should send all your kids to _Lego Batman_.” RatPac-Dune Entertainment Holdings, which Mnuchin co-founded, produced the movie. Mnuchin had agreed to divest his interests from RatPac-Dune within 120 days of his Treasury Secretary confirmation. In a letter the ethics office, Wyden said that the Senate committee hadn’t been notified of any changes to Mnuchin’s RatPac-Dune holdings. “I am concerned that Sec. Mnuchin’s comments, may be seen to have a predictable effect on the financial interests,” of the company, he said. A spokesperson from the Treasury defended Mnuchin, saying “As his statement reflects, the Secretary clearly recognized that he generally may not promote private interests and specifically gave the legal disclosure that he was not promoting a movie, but answering a question he was asked directly.” \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-treasury-ethics-idUSKBN16Z062)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4714754/steve-mnuchin-ethics-lego-batman-wyden/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4714754/steve-mnuchin-ethics-lego-batman-wyden/"},"headline":"Senator Calls for Ethics Probe Into Steve Mnuchin's Lego Batman Comments","datePublished":"2017-03-28T08:54:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:03:49.411Z","description":"Mnuchin's RatPac-Dune Entertainment was involved in the movie's production","url":"https://time.com/4714754/steve-mnuchin-ethics-lego-batman-wyden/","keywords":["Ethics","Congress","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd135cd83ea1c0ba/6988c022196cf40e3303f684/gettyimages-654808462.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Lui","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd135cd83ea1c0ba/6988c022196cf40e3303f684/gettyimages-654808462.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GERMANY-G20-FINANCE","caption":"GERMANY-G20-FINANCE","creditText":"Thomas Kienzle—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ethics/","name":"Ethics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4714754/steve-mnuchin-ethics-lego-batman-wyden/","name":"Senator Calls for Ethics Probe Into Steve Mnuchin's Lego Batman Comments"}}]}] ```