{"id":130319,"date":"2022-11-23T00:16:55","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T00:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=130319"},"modified":"2022-11-23T00:16:55","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T00:16:55","slug":"ethics-watchdog-group-seeks-probes-into-oversight-of-officials-stock-trading-conflicts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/ethics-watchdog-group-seeks-probes-into-oversight-of-officials-stock-trading-conflicts\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethics watchdog group seeks probes into oversight of officials\u2019 stock-trading conflicts"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/picture> video<\/span> <\/p>\n

Charles Payne: This is the essence of insider trading<\/h2>\n

FOX Business host Charles Payne weighs in on if Congress should be trading the stock market on ‘Making Money.’<\/p>\n

A nonpartisan group that monitors government ethics filed a series of legal complaints alleging the federal government is failing to adequately enforce conflict-of-interest rules.<\/p>\n

The Campaign Legal Center called on the executive-branch agency that oversees ethics rules to investigate what it called deficiencies in enforcement at several agencies. The group also requested that internal investigators at four federal agencies examine whether their ethics programs complied with federal rules.<\/p>\n

The legal filings were prompted by a series of articles in The Wall Street Journal revealing that thousands of federal employees at 50 federal agencies held stock in companies that were regulated by the agencies where those employees worked.<\/p>\n

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House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., meets in his office with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and Kellyanne Conway, former Trump White House advisor, moments before heading to speak, share experiences and offer advice to members of the<\/span> ((Photo by Jabin Botsford\/The Washington Post via Getty Images) \/ Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n

The agencies "have repeatedly allowed senior officials to own and trade stock in companies that appear to create conflicts of interest with their official duties," the complaint said. "An investigation can determine whether the scope and severity of deficiencies in the ethics programs’ guidance on financial conflicts of interest is greater than currently publicly known."<\/p>\n

GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS INVEST IN COMPANIES THEIR AGENCIES OVERSEE<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Separately, some lawmakers on Capitol Hill say that changes in the political landscape in Washington could make it more likely that Congress takes up legislation next year to overhaul the government’s rules regarding stock ownership by federal officials.<\/p>\n

Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican lawmaker who is the front-runner to serve as House speaker, is considering a sweeping ethics-reform package aimed at restoring public trust in the government, an aide told the Journal.<\/p>\n

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The Department of the Treasury building is seen in Washington, DC, on August 29, 2022. Efforts to pass a stock-trading ban on lawmakers and federal employees\u2014which has broad public support\u2014briefly gained momentum this fall before stalling out. (Photo<\/span> ((Photo by DANIEL SLIM\/AFP via Getty Images) \/ Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n

Under consideration is legislation to ban or restrict members of Congress and senior executive branch employees from owning or trading stock, the aide said. Earlier this year, Mr. McCarthy said that if Republicans took control of the House, he would consider prohibiting lawmakers from holding or trading stocks. He didn’t support any Democratic bills proposing such a ban.<\/p>\n

The Campaign Legal Center filed complaints with the inspectors general for the Environmental Protection Agency, Defense Department, Federal Trade Commission and Health and Human Services Department, in addition to the Office of Government Ethics.<\/p>\n

HOW FTX BOUGHT ITS WAY TO BECOME THE 'MOST REGULATED' CRYPTO EXCHANGE<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Among the examples the group cited from the Journal’s reporting was an EPA official who reported owning oil and gas stocks with his husband; a defense official who traded stock in a Chinese company while the agency deliberated over whether to add the company to a blacklist; and an FTC official who traded stock in Facebook, now Meta Platforms Inc., while his office coordinated an investigation involving the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Ticker<\/th>\nSecurity<\/th>\nLast<\/th>\nChange<\/th>\nChange %<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
META<\/td>\nMETA PLATFORMS INC.<\/td>\n111.44<\/td>\n+1.58<\/td>\n+1.44%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

"The public has a right to know that the officials tasked with protecting the security of our country are always acting in the public’s interest, not in their own private financial interest," said the complaint filed with the Defense Department.<\/p>\n

CAMPAIGN LEGAL CENTER’S COMPLAINTS<\/p>\n