Crockett’s secret stock portfolio may run afoul of the Ethics in Government Act, according to the nonpartisan watchdog group Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D., Texas) may be in a world of legal trouble for concealing her ownership of stock in at least 25 companies from her congressional financial disclosures, according to a new complaint obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
As a Texas state lawmaker, Crockett reported owning a sizable stock portfolio in the 2021 calendar year with stakes in 28 firms, including major pharmaceutical, fossil fuel, technology, automobile, and marijuana firms. But the far-left firebrand omitted 25 of those stocks from her congressional financial disclosures, also covering the 2021 calendar year, including her stakes in several companies that stood to benefit from legislation she’s introduced in Congress, the Free Beacon reported.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a nonpartisan watchdog group that filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Conduct, believes Crockett’s failure to disclose her complete stock portfolio to Congress may mean she violated the Ethics in Government Act. Under that law, politicians who knowingly and willfully file false financial disclosures can face prison time.
“When Members of Congress fail to accurately and fully disclose their financial interests, it undermines the integrity of our government and erodes the public’s trust,” FACT executive director Kendra Arnold told the Free Beacon. “The disclosure laws are not optional. They are essential safeguards that ensure lawmakers are not using their positions for personal financial gain. Given the inconsistencies in Rep. Crockett’s filings, an immediate investigation is warranted.”
Ethics laws only require House members to disclose stock holdings that exceed $1,000, and Crockett reported to Texas that she owned fewer than 100 shares in each of the stocks she disclosed to the state in 2021 but left off her congressional filings. On the surface, that may suggest the 25 undisclosed stocks in her portfolio fell under the $1,000 reporting threshold. FACT, however, noted in its complaint that two of these stocks traded at more than $1,000 a share in 2021.
“For instance, at least two of the stocks that Crockett did not disclose, T2 Biosystems and Red Hill Biopharma, were valued at more than $1,000 per share for the entirety of 2021,” the group noted in its complaint. “This means that so long as Crockett owned a single share of these stocks, regardless of whether she sold them or continued to own them at the end of 2021, she was required to disclose her ownership during the year.”
Lawmakers found to have violated the Ethics in Government Act face potential civil penalties of up to $50,000 or up to one year in prison.
Some of the undisclosed stocks in Crockett’s portfolio are likely to raise red flags, including her stakes in marijuana firms like Aurora Cannabis and “Corporate Cannabis.” Those two companies stood to benefit from legislation Crockett cosponsored in August that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.
Other stocks the “Squad” member concealed from her congressional disclosures conflict with her cultivated image as a champion of green energy. Those include her shares in ExxonMobil, the fossil fuel giant that Democrat-run states have sued for allegedly causing climate change.
FACT filed its complaint with the Office of Congressional Conduct, formerly known as the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent entity the House of Representatives established in 2008 to conduct preliminary investigations into allegations of wrongdoing by members of Congress. Should the office investigate Crockett and find that she violated the Ethics in Government Act, it will have the option to refer her to the House Ethics Committee, which has the power to levy fines and other penalties against elected members.
Crockett did not respond to a Free Beacon request for comment.
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