Financial disclosure forms show that more than 2,600 government officials owned stock in companies that were lobbying their agencies between 2016 and 2021, the Wall Street Journal reports.
More than 20% of all senior officials in 50 federal agencies owned stock in companies whose valuation could have been affected by federal action, the report says.
- The investigation found that more than 200 senior officials at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported investments in companies that were lobbying the EPA.
- These officials and their families owned between $400k and $2M in shares of oil and gas companies on average each year during the six-year period.
- Senior Department of Defense officials reported collectively owning between $1.2M and $3.4M of stock in defense and aerospace companies.
- 70 federal officials used short selling or options trades during the six-year period, with some trades being valued at between $5M and $25M.
- The Journal investigation found that conflict-of-interest rules often include loopholes that allow federal officials to hold stock in companies regulated by their employers.
- WSJ reporters analyzed 31,000 financial-disclosure forms for about 12,000 senior federal workers and presidential appointees.
- They looked into more than 850,000 financial assets and around records of 315,000 trades in stocks, bonds, and funds by the officials and their families.