Six Democratic senators are urging the Commerce Department’s Inspector General to investigate Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross’ compliance with ethics requirements, as well as potential conflicts of interest among senior department officials.
The senators, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked the Commerce Department’s watchdog to specifically probe four areas of concern, including Ross’ true net worth and his compliance with recusal requirements included in his ethics agreement.
Questions surrounding Ross’ net worth were raised by Forbes last week when Ross challenged its estimates of his wealth. The commerce secretary told Forbes he had trusts for his family worth more than $2 billion, and said he transferred assets into trusts sometime between the 2016 election and his nomination.
The Commerce Department, though, said “there was no major asset transfer to a trust in the period between the election and Secretary Ross’s confirmation.”
The senators also questioned Ross’ holdings in offshore accounts, as well as his stake in Navigator Holdings, a shipping company, which was exposed as part of a massive leak of documents dubbed the “Paradise Papers.”
“We urge you to examine the veracity of Secretary Ross’s statements about his wealth, including responses provided to Congress, whether Secretary Ross has provided fabrications about other assets or shielded the existence of assets, and the extent to which false representations impacted the evaluation of and implementation of the ethics agreements he must now follow,” the senators wrote.
The six Democrats asked the inspector general to investigate Ross’ chief of staff, Wendy Teramoto, for potential conflicts of interest. Teramoto started working at the Commerce Department in March, but remained on the board of Navigator Holdings until July. She was named Ross’ chief of staff Aug 1.
According to reports, Teramoto worked on “high-profile matters at the department for months before she separated from Navigator — including work on trade matters that would directly affect Navigator.”
“These reports about a clear and compelling conflict of interest make us question whether her efforts are focused on her personal business interests or the well-being of the American people,” the senators wrote.
The letter to the inspector general was signed by Blumenthal, and Democratic Sens. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.
