Top House Dem faces renewed ethics complaint over wife's $1.5M stock payday
FIRST ON FOX: A conservative policy group has renewed an ethics complaint against Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., for failing to properly disclose his wife’s stock holdings.
In a complaint filed Friday, the Center for Renewing America highlighted possible violations of federal financial disclosure laws by Raskin, who waited too long to report stock shares that his wife, Sarah Bloom Raskin, received for her work at a Colorado-based financial technology company.
“It is imperative that Members disclose assets that they or their families have in compliance with the law so that the public can assess what may be motivating a Member to take certain positions or actions,” the letter from Center for Renewing America President Russ Vought states.
The complaint reintroduces misconduct allegations against Raskin that first surfaced in 2022, when FOX Business and Business Insider reported that the Maryland Democrat had waited eight months to disclose a $1.5 million payout his wife received after she sold 195,936 shares of Reserve Trust. A federal financial disclosure listed the initial transaction date as Dec. 18, 2020, but Rep. Raskin, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, did not file paperwork disclosing the trade until August 2021.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN FAILED TO REPORT HUGE STOCK PAYOUT FOR HIS WIFE, A BIDEN FED NOMINEE
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., speaks during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 5, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Alex Wong/Getty Images
The American Accountability Foundation, a conservative watchdog group, had previously filed an ethics complaint targeting Raskin over the disclosures in 2022, but that complaint has since expired. The new complaint by the Center for Renewing America seeks to relitigate the issue after the allegations tanked President Biden’s nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to serve as the Federal Reserve’s vice chairwoman for supervision.
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REP. JAMIE RASKIN SLAPPED WITH ETHICS COMPLAINT OVER FAILURE TO REPORT WIFE’S HUGE STOCK PAYOUT
Sarah Bloom Raskin, then-nominee to be vice chairman for supervision and a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, speaks before a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 3, 2022 in Washington, D.C. Ken Cedeno-Pool/Getty Images
Vought, a former White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director under former President Trump, accused Rep. Raskin of violating the Ethics in Government Act by neglecting to report his wife’s earned income in his 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 financial disclosures.
“This failure is a clear violation of Raskin’s reporting duties and also raises serious questions about further potential violations,” the letter states. “Since Raskin did not see fit to disclose Reserve Trust as a source of income in 2017, it is unclear if he also failed to do so for subsequent years. It is possible that Reserve Trust compensated Mrs. Raskin with further shares for services rendered in subsequent years. Given Raskin’s approach to disclosure, the public would never know.”
BIDEN FED NOMINEE SARAH BLOOM RASKIN WITHDRAWS BOARD CANDIDACY
Former OMB Director Russ Vought filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Jamie Raskin for failing to disclose his wife’s stock trades from 2017-2020. Fox Business
The Center for Renewing America requests that the Office of Congressional Ethics investigate whether Raskin “engaged in any actions to benefit his wife’s clients, and specifically Reserve Trust, during the time period for which he did not disclose this asset.”
“The above demonstrates that Representative Raksin has likely violated his disclosure obligations and creates serious clouds around Raskin’s honesty and ability to represent the best interests of his constituents,” the letter concludes. “Accordingly, the Center for Renewing America respectfully requests that OCE open an investigation into this matter.”
A spokesman for Rep. Raskin did not respond to a request for comment.
FOX Business’ Megan Henney contributed to this report.
Original article source: Top House Dem faces renewed ethics complaint over wife’s $1.5M stock payday