Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm disclosed this week that she had owned individual stocks, contradicting previous testimony from the Biden administration official.
Granholm said in a Friday letter that she discovered last month that she owned individual stocks, contrary to what she testified on April 20. In the letter, she told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that the individual stocks she had owned were “non-conflicting,” but that she had divested from them last month to match her testimony.
“I mistakenly told the Committee that I did not own any individual stocks, whereas I should have said that I did not own any conflicting stocks. In order to make my financial holdings consistent with my testimony, on May 18, 2023, I divested my remaining stock holdings which consisted of stock in six companies, even though these assets were deemed non-conflicting,” she wrote.
Granholm said that her husband had owned $2,457.89 worth of shares in Ford, something she also said she did not know. The Ford shares were subsequently sold off.
“As a public servant, I take very seriously the commitment to hold myself to the highest ethical standards, and I regret the accidental omission of my spouse’s interest in Ford,” she added. “This is a commitment I made to you, the President, and most importantly the American people.”
The letter says that she owned stock in six individual companies, something she had not previously told lawmakers. She said that specific companies will be detailed in a later filing this month.
“My spouse and I have double-checked our financial assets, and there are no other reportable assets that were omitted from my financial disclosure report,” she said.
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Her disclosure was criticized by Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), who is on the Senate Energy Committee.
“Secretary Granholm lied to the committee about her family’s stock holdings,” Barrasso told Fox News. “This comes after her failure to follow basic ethics and disclosure rules. This is a troubling pattern. It is unacceptable.”
Granholm has come under fire for her stocks in the past, with CNBC reporting in January 2022 that she had violated a stock disclosure law nine times in 2021. The reported violations included stock sales that were not disclosed within the 45-day time period required.
The stock trading of government officials has come under increased scrutiny in recent years, with some lawmakers looking to prohibit elected lawmakers from being able to buy and sell individual stocks.