ICYMI Shalala hit with an ethics complaint
Donna Shalala has been hit with an ethics complaint for violating federal law by failing to disclose stock sales while serving in Congress.
The report says her actions, “indicated a deliberate attempt to evade the legal reporting requirements.”
Progressive groups and fellow Democrat Rep. Mike Levin have called on her to step down from the coronavirus oversight panel.
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Ethics watchdog files complaint against Rep. Donna Shalala
The Washington Examiner
Kerry Picket
April 24, 2020
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/ethics-watchdog-files-complaint-against-rep-donna-shalala
An ethics watchdog group has filed a complaint with a House ethics panel against Rep. Donna Shalala over her sale of at least six stocks between November 2018 and November 2019 without reporting the transactions.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust filed the complaint against the Florida Democrat on Thursday with the Office of Congressional Ethics. OCE is an investigative arm of the House Ethics Committee, composed of nonmembers of Congress. If it finds sufficient cause to warrant further investigation, it can send the complaint onto the Ethics Committee, an evenly divided panel between Democrats and Republicans.
The complaint accuses Shalala, 79, a first-term member of Congress, of violating federal law and House ethics rules.
In a recent interview, Shalala claimed she made an error and simply missed the filing deadlines.
“Look, I knew what the law was. I missed the deadlines. And I have to take responsibility — personal responsibility for doing that,” she told a local Miami CBS affiliate.
However, the watchdog group claims that Shalala’s failure to disclose her stock trades had little to do with missing a filing deadline because a sale occurred more than a year ago, and the group says Shalala deliberately attempted to avoid the legal reporting mandates.
Federal law and House ethics rules require members to report financial information to the public, including financial transactions over $1,000.
“The Ethics in Government Act does not allow for Members to not file the required reports without consequence. The disclosure requirements are an integral part of the law to create an ethical and transparent government. It is not a technical requirement for Members-timely and accurate filing is the only method for citizens to determine whether Members have conflicts of interest or are wrongly profiting from their position,” Kendra Arnold, executive director, Foundation for Accountability & Civic Trust, said in her complaint to the OCE.
Shalala, who has the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is a member of the CARES Congressional Oversight Commission, a panel which a liberal organization has called for Shalala to step down from in the midst of the news of the stock sales.