--- 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: 2026-10-08T08:26:15.404Z 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3368 og:image:height: 1895 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 00:49 video:published: 2017-03-28 section: politics topics: ethics violations, government officials, conflict of interest, film promotion, divestment, executive producer credits, Treasury Department genre: news, political news tones: critical, defensive, informative, concise emotions: indignation (medium), defensiveness (medium), amusement (low) sentiment: neutral audience: political news readers, government ethics observers, general news audiences, film industry followers people: Ron Wyden, Steve Mnuchin organizations: Treasury Department, Office of Government Ethics, Axios, Rat Pack Dune products: The Lego Batman Movie transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Senator Calls for Ethics Probe Into Steve Mnuchin's _Lego Batman_ Comments > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=b591e3be-ba7c-4117-a93f-5b0c18e42666&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Senator Criticizes Treasury Secretary Over 'Lego Batman' Comment [Watch (HLS stream): Senator Criticizes Treasury Secretary Over 'Lego Batman' Comment](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/F8RQ0mHj.m3u8) (0:49)  _Published 2017-03-28. Senator Ron Wyden criticized Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin for talking about "The Lego Batman Movie," which Mnuchin worked on before joining the government._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Senator Ron Wyden criticizes Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin for promoting "The Lego Batman Movie," a film linked to a company he co-founded. Mnuchin, in a live interview with Axios, gave a legal disclosure before recommending the movie to parents. Wyden protested in a letter to the Office of Government Ethics, saying Mnuchin has not shown he divested his interest. A Treasury spokesperson defended Mnuchin, saying he was answering a direct question rather than promoting a product. ## Key points - Senator Ron Wyden says Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin may have committed an ethics violation by talking about the Lego Batman movie. (00:00) - Mnuchin co-founded the company Rat Pack Dune, which produced Lego Batman, and is credited as an executive producer. (00:07) - Mnuchin brought up the film during a live interview with Axios. (00:12) - Mnuchin said he was not allowed to promote anything he is involved in and gave a legal disclosure. (00:17) - Mnuchin nonetheless told parents to send their kids to Lego Batman. (00:28) - Wyden protested the remark in a letter to the Office of Government Ethics. (00:30) - Wyden says Mnuchin agreed to divest his interest from Rat Pack Dune but has not shown that he has done so. (00:33) - A Treasury spokesperson said Mnuchin was answering a question he was asked directly and was not promoting a movie. (00:40) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:12] Wyden's ethics criticism of Mnuchin. Wyden says Mnuchin may have violated ethics rules and explains Mnuchin's link to the film's production company. - [00:12 to 00:28] Mnuchin's Axios interview remarks. Mnuchin gives a legal disclosure during a live interview, then recommends the film anyway. - [00:28 to 00:49] Ethics complaint and Treasury response. Wyden files a letter about divestment, and a Treasury spokesperson defends Mnuchin's answer as responsive to a direct question. ## Key quotes - [00:17] Steve Mnuchin: "I'm not allowed to promote anything that I'm involved in, so I just want to have the legal disclosure." - [00:22] Steve Mnuchin: "You've asked me the question and I am not promoting any product." - [00:28] Steve Mnuchin: "but you should send all your kids to Lego Batman." - [00:40] Treasury spokesperson: "The secretary clearly recognized that he generally may not promote private interests" - [00:46] Treasury spokesperson: "but answering a question he was asked directly." ## Questions this video answers - What is Mnuchin's connection to the production of The Lego Batman Movie? [00:07] - Where did Mnuchin bring up the film? [00:12] - Has Mnuchin divested his interest in Rat Pack Dune, according to Wyden? [00:33] - How does the Treasury justify Mnuchin's remarks about the film? [00:40] by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Mar 28, 2017 8:54 AM UTC Senator Ron Wyden criticized Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin for talking about "The Lego Batman Movie," which Mnuchin worked on before joining the government. 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":"2026-10-08T08:26:15.404Z","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":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/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"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Senator Criticizes Treasury Secretary Over 'Lego Batman' Comment","description":"Senator Ron Wyden criticized Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin for talking about \"The Lego Batman Movie,\" which Mnuchin worked on before joining the government.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/F8RQ0mHj/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-03-28T14:26:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/F8RQ0mHj.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4714754/steve-mnuchin-ethics-lego-batman-wyden/","duration":"PT49S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4714754/steve-mnuchin-ethics-lego-batman-wyden/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```