Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm violated a stock disclosure law nine times last year

Having paid the late filing fee, “The Department of Energy’s ethics office has certified that based on her reports, Secretary Granholm’s financial holdings are in compliance with the law,” said Troiano.

Nonetheless, it is surprising that Granholm was only notified about these stock sales in late November or December, according to her disclosure form, given that Granholm was selling other stocks during the same period of time in order to eliminate any potential conflicts of interest.

When President Joe Biden nominated her to be his energy secretary, Granholm signed a detailed Ethics Agreement in which she agreed to give up part-time jobs at the University of California and at CNN, step down from several boards, and sell millions of dollars worth of stock.

On March 22, she reported 23 stock sales, many of them blue chip companies she had more than $10,000 of shares in.

A few months later in May, Granholm filed more transaction reports detailing how she had exercised stock options in the electric bus and battery company Proterra and then sold all her shares, worth between $1 million and $5 million, on May 24.

But in between the March blue chip sales and the May Proterra sale, Granholm made 6 of the 9 stock sales that didn’t get disclosed until December.

The news of Granholm’s apparent violations comes at time when stock sales by public officials and members of Congress are getting a fresh look.

During the past week, several members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have introduced or re-introduced legislation that would effectively ban lawmakers and their immediate family members from actively trading stocks while the member is in office.

Last year alone, a total of 54 members of Congress violated the STOCK Act rules, according to an analysis by Business Insider’s Dave Levinthal published earlier this month.

There are growing signs that the public supports a ban, too. A recent survey commissioned by a conservative advocacy found that 76% of voters believed that lawmakers and their spouses had an “unfair advantage” in the stock market.

The same survey, conducted by the Convention of States Action, also found that just 5% of likely voters approved of members of Congress trading stocks.

— This story was updated at 9:26 p.m. ET to include an additional statement from the Department of Energy.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/20/energy-secretary-jennifer-granholm-violated-stock-disclosure-law-9-times.html