<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rep. <keyword id="14325049" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="vicente-gonzalez" source="Orion">Vicente Gonzalez</keyword> of Texas waited nearly a year to report a stock sale worth up to $15,000.</li><li>Congress is debating whether to ban its lawmakers and their spouses from trading stocks.</li></ul><p>Democratic Rep. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/vicente-gonzalez">Vicente Gonzalez</a> of Texas' 15th Congressional District appears to have violated a federal conflict-of-interest law by waiting nearly a year to disclose a stock trade, according to an Insider review a newly filed congressional financial disclosure.</p><p>Gonzalez sold between $1,000 and $15,000 worth in stock in <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/fcx-stock">Freeport-McMoRan</a>, a Phoenix-based mining company, on July 24, 2021, but waited to report it until June 27, 2022, his hand-written financial disclosure indicates.</p><p>Members of Congress are required to report such trades no later than 45 days after making them, according to the federal <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-act-congress-trading-stocks-investing-2022-3">Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act</a> of 2012. Lawmakers are not required to provide the specific value of their trades, and instead, report them in broad ranges.</p><iframe src="https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/22074330-gonzalez-ptr/?embed=1&amp;responsive=1&amp;title=1" title="Gonzalez PTR (Hosted by DocumentCloud)" width="700" height="539" style="border: 1px solid #aaa; width: 100%; height: 800px; height: calc(100vh - 100px);" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe><p>Gonzalez's staff did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.</p><p>In recent months, Gonzalez has made mining an issue through his work as a federal lawmaker.</p><p>In May, for example, he <a href="https://gonzalez.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-gonzalez-joins-colleagues-introduce-bipartisan-bill-ban-russian">introduced legislation</a> banning uranium imports from Russia.</p><p>"The US has the resources and capacity to produce uranium here at home and should no longer rely on foreign dictators," Gonzalez said at the time.</p><p>In April, Gonzalez <a href="https://twitter.com/RepGonzalez/status/1386014312070799363">introduced</a> the "Rare Act" with the aim of developing a "reliable domestic supply of critical minerals, rare earth elements and to uncouple our supply lines and dependence on China for national security manufacturing raw materials."</p><p><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/fcx-stock">Freeport-McMoRan</a> operates seven open-pit copper mines in the United States and has other mining operations in Chile, Peru, and Indonesia, <a href="https://www.fcx.com/operations">according to its website</a>.</p><div type="image" title="A Freeport McMoRan mine in Indonesia" height="2667" width="4000" msid="92556339" hostid="261"></div><h2>Members of Congress keep on violating the <keyword id="12169748" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="stock-act" source="Orion">STOCK Act</keyword></h2><p>Since 2021, Insider's "<keyword id="12727727" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="conflicted-congress" source="Orion">Conflicted Congress</keyword>" project and other publications have found <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-senate-house-trading-2021-9">65 members of Congress</a>, including Gonzalez, who have violated the STOCK Act by disclosing trades late. Insider additionally found that at least <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-staff-violated-stock-act-conflicts-of-interest-possible-2021-12">182 senior congressional staffers</a> also violated provisions of the STOCK Act, as well.</p><p>Members of Congress currently have the right to purchase, sell, and hold individual stocks. But here's a growing movement from members from both the right and left sides of the aisle to ban or limit legislators, and potentially their spouses, from trading individual stocks.</p><p>"Year after year, politicians somehow manage to outperform the market, buying and selling millions in stocks of companies they're supposed to be regulating. Wall Street and Big Tech work hand-in-hand with elected officials to enrich each other at the expense of the country," said GOP <a href="https://www.hawley.senate.gov/hawley-introduces-bill-banning-insider-trading-congress">Sen. Josh Hawley, who introduced the Banning Insider Trading in Congress Act, in a press release</a>. "Here's something we can do: ban all members of Congress from trading stocks and force those who do to pay their proceeds back to the American people. It's time to stop turning a blind eye to Washington profiteering."</p><p><keyword id="13054602" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="delaney-marsco" source="Orion">Delaney Marsco</keyword>, senior legal counsel with the nonpartisan <keyword id="12410921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="campaign-legal-center" source="Orion">Campaign Legal Center</keyword>, told Insider that violators of the STOCK Act who file late or incomplete disclosures ensure that "voters aren't getting information they have a right to.</p><p>"Voters have a right to know what members of Congress' financial interests are in real-time, and Congress agrees with that, that's why they passed the STOCK Act," Marsco said. "That's why they require these disclosures because it's important for the public to know whether members of Congress are acting in the best interest of the public, or if they're acting in the best interest of their own personal bottom line."</p><p>Marsco also said that the STOCK Act lacks enough "teeth," or enforcement. She said that most violators get away with simply a $200 fine, which is far too low of a slap on the wrist for members of Congress who trade millions in stocks. Insider found that the STOCK Act is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-penalties-consequences-2021-12">inconsistently enforced</a>.</p><p>In Gonzalez's case, Marsco mentioned that "for someone who just failed to report $15,000, $200 is not a lot of money in comparison to that."</p>

Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas appears to violate a federal conflict-of-interest law with late disclosure of a mining stock sale

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rep. <keyword id="12998640" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tom-suozzi" source="Orion">Tom Suozzi</keyword> just disclosed 10 stock trades that are weeks late, in violation of federal law.</li><li>This is not the first time Suozzi violated the <keyword id="12169748" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="stock-act" source="Orion">STOCK Act</keyword>.</li></ul><p>Democratic congressman and New York gubernatorial hopeful Tom Suozzi appears to have violated the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-act-congress-trading-stocks-investing-2022-3">Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act</a> for the second time this year, disclosing 10 stock trades several weeks past a federal deadline.</p><p>Taken together, the trades are worth between $171,000 and $515,000 and involve share purchases in automaker General Motors, computer technology company NVIDIA Corporation, and aerospace and defense company Boeing Co.</p><p>According to the STOCK Act, members of Congress are required to report each of his trades to the House Ethics Committee up to 45 days after it occurs. For Suozzi, he publicly disclosed 10 of his trades on May 20 when he should have done so in mid-April.</p><iframe src="https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/22035904-suozzi-late-report/?embed=1&amp;responsive=1&amp;title=1" title="Suozzi late report (Hosted by DocumentCloud)" width="700" height="905" style="border: 1px solid #aaa; width: 100%; height: 800px; height: calc(100vh - 100px);" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe><p>This is not the first time Insider has caught Suozzi, who is currently running for governor of New York, in violation of the STOCK Act.</p><p>In March, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-suozzi-stocks-congress-new-york-governor2022-3">Insider reported</a> that Suozzi failed to properly report 31 stock trades in a disclosure in violation of the law. And in 2021, the <keyword id="12410921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="campaign-legal-center" source="Orion">Campaign Legal Center</keyword>, a nonpartisan government watchdog, filed an <a href="https://campaignlegal.org/sites/default/files/2021-09/Suozzi_OCE%20Complaint_Final.pdf">ethics complaint</a> against Suozzi that accused him of failing to report about 300 trades he made from 2017 to 2022.</p><p><keyword id="13054602" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="delaney-marsco" source="Orion">Delaney Marsco</keyword>, senior legal counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, told Insider that Suozzi's repeated STOCK Act violations damages voters' trust in their elected officials.</p><p>"When the public sees it over and over again, then they have to wonder, 'Well, why are you reporting it later? Do you know something I don't know? Are you trying to hide something from me?'" Marsco said. "And that's very damaging to the public's trust in government."</p><p>Marsco added that the standard penalty for a STOCK Act violation, typically a $200 fine, is not nearly enough to prevent lawmakers from breaking the law.</p><p>"There's no real meaningful penalty for violating the STOCK Act or failing to disclose these reports on time," Marsco said. "Usually it's a $200 fine. That's not really enough of a deterrent to stop people who are clearly making hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of purchases in stock."</p><p>In a statement to Insider, a spokesperson for Suozzi's office said that the congressman will pay a fine.</p><p>"In an effort to streamline the reporting process, we have consolidated accounts," the spokesperson said. "In the process, transactions in the new account were reported 32 days late and the required $200 fine will be paid."</p><p>Suozzi joins 59 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-senate-house-trading-2021-9">other members of Congress</a> who Insider and other media organizations have since last year flagged for failing to properly report their financial trades. Insider's "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/conflicted-congress-key-findings-stock-act-finances-investing-2021-12">Conflicted Congress</a>" project found that at least <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-staff-violated-stock-act-conflicts-of-interest-possible-2021-12">182 senior congressional staffers</a> have violated the STOCK Act's disclosure provisions, as well.</p>

Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, a New York gubernatorial hopeful, just violated the STOCK Act &mdash; again

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rep. <keyword id="13054601" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="frank-mrvan" source="Orion">Frank Mrvan</keyword> filed a congressional financial disclosure indicating his net worth was more than $50 million.</li><li>When Insider asked about his wealth, the congressman acknowledged the disclosure was incorrect.</li></ul><p>Freshman Rep. Frank Mrvan declared in a congressional financial disclosure that he was personally worth tens of millions of dollars.</p><p>In actuality, he's closer to broke.</p><p>Mrvan, a Democrat who represents <keyword id="11896862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="indiana" source="Orion">Indiana</keyword>'s 1st Congressional District, last year <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21192409-mrvan-public-disclosure?responsive=1&amp;title=1">reported in an annual financial disclosure</a> that he owned a public employee retirement fund annuity worth "over $50 million."</p><p>When Insider asked Mrvan about this asset, the congressman acknowledged he made a mistake that led to him vastly inflating his total wealth.</p><p>His office attributed this to a "data entry error" — the holding is actually worth between $50,001 and $100,000.</p><p>Insider calculated Mrvan's new net worth to be at least $100,000 in the red after subtracting his liabilities from his total reported assets.</p><div type="image" title="Financial disclosure form from Rep. Frank Mrvan." height="407" width="969" msid="89190598" hostid="261"></div><iframe src="https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/21191150-mrvan-amended-disclosure/?embed=1&amp;responsive=1&amp;title=1" title="Mrvan amended disclosure (Hosted by DocumentCloud)" width="700" height="905" style="border: 1px solid #aaa; width: 100%; height: 800px; height: calc(100vh - 100px);" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe><p>"I am responsible for the actions of my office, and I take sole responsibility for the honest data entry error on my financial disclosure form," Mrvan told Insider. "The public employee retirement fund amount should have been in the thousands and not millions. When brought to my attention, I corrected the form and resubmitted it to the House where it will again be made publicly available."</p><p>Mrvan declined to say who, specifically, was responsible for the error and how months passed without him, or anyone on his staff, noticing it. He did not respond to a question about how he plans to avoid such a mistake in the future.</p><p>Members of Congress are required each year to submit an updated financial disclosure of their family's personal assets, liabilities, and other finances as mandated by federal law, including the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012. The purpose: to foster public trust through transparency, curb insider trading, and defend against potential financial conflicts of interest.</p><p>Insider's recent <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/financial-conflicts-congress-members-rated-2021-12?page=stories">"Conflicted Congress" investigation</a>, which delved into each member of Congress' financial disclosures, discovered that at least <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-senate-house-trading-2021-9">54 members of Congress</a> have recently violated the <keyword id="12169748" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="stock-act" source="Orion">STOCK Act</keyword>. But congressional financial disclosures are not always rigorously reviewed for accuracy by government officials and are not subject to independent audits.</p><p>Mrvan originally appeared in an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wealthiest-members-congress-house-senate-finances-2021-12">analysis of the 25 wealthiest members of Congress</a>, published as part of "<keyword id="12727727" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="conflicted-congress" source="Orion">Conflicted Congress</keyword>." Insider has now removed him from the list.</p><p><a href="https://campaignlegal.org/staff/delaney-marsco">Delaney Marsco</a>, the senior legal counsel for ethics at the <keyword id="12410921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="campaign-legal-center" source="Orion">Campaign Legal Center</keyword>, told Insider that some of the blame for the disclosure also lies with the House Committee on Ethics, which does not comment publicly on specific House member financial filings.</p><p>"The Committee on Ethics is supposed to review all of the financial disclosures to make sure they're timely and accurate and complete," she said.</p><p>Given how wealthy many members of Congress are, Marsco said it's not surprising that the mistake went unseen by the committee as the large asset value may not have stood out to reviewers. </p><p>Still, she said, the error is partially related to the committee's reliance on a "disclosure-only model," where the committee must fully trust the veracity of each disclosure.</p><p>Marsco also noted that Mrvan's mistake could have been avoided if congressional disclosures were, in general, structured differently: She suggested removing the requirement to file asset values in broad ranges, instead providing a more precise value for each asset.</p><p>"There's definitely logical reasons why we have ranges, but I wonder if this could have been averted if he had been required to say the exact amount of the asset," Marsco said. "It's a lot harder to misplace the zero if you're rounding to the nearest tenth of a cent."</p>

Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan of Indiana said he was worth millions. He was wrong.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Republican Rep. George Santos has made false statements about his work and education history.</li><li>A Washington Post report indicates he was paid in 2021 by a firm accused of running a Ponzi scheme.</li></ul><p>Republican Rep. George Santos of New York was paid by a company that the Securities and Exchange Commission called a "classic Ponzi scheme" but failed to disclose it, a lawyer told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/01/11/george-santos-harbor-city-capital/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a> in a report published Wednesday.</p><p>Santos, who has made <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/george-santos-finances-probe-lying-work-education-reports-2022-12">false claims about his education and employment history</a>, was paid by the firm, Harbor City Capital, which is based in Florida, as recently as April 2021, according to Katherine C. Donlon, the lawyer appointed by the court to review the firm. She declined to tell the Post how much Santos was paid.</p><p>Santos had previously told <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/george-devolder-santos-maga-house-candidate-in-new-york-haunted-by-gig-at-alleged-ponzi-scheme" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Beast</a> he left the company on March 1, 2021.</p><p>Within weeks of April 2021, Santos founded the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/george-santos-finances-probe-lying-work-education-reports-2022-12">Devolder Organization</a>, the firm through which he was paid a $750,000 salary in 2022, far surpassing his previous reported salary of $55,000 in 2020.</p><p>A <a href="https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/financial-pdfs/2022/10050385.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">financial disclosure</a> filed by Santos as a candidate that covered January 2021 to December 2022 didn't list any payments from Harbor City Capital.</p><p>"Voters have a right to know this information," Delaney Marsco, the senior legal counsel for ethics at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, told the Post, adding that intentionally not disclosing could result in a fine or up to five years in prison.</p><p>An <a href="https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2021/comp-pr2021-74.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SEC complaint</a> was filed against Harbor City Capital on April 20, 2021. The complaint, which didn't name Santos, said the company's founder spent investors' money on personal expenses and paid them monthly interest payments in "classic Ponzi scheme fashion."</p><p>Santos told The Daily Beast last year that he didn't know about what was going on at the company.</p><p>"I'm as distraught and disturbed as everyone else is," he told the outlet in April.</p><p>A representative for Santos didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.</p>

Rep. George Santos was paid by a company the SEC called a 'classic Ponzi scheme' but never disclosed the payments as a candidate, report says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rep. <keyword id="12998640" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tom-suozzi" source="Orion">Tom Suozzi</keyword> just disclosed 31 stock trades that are months or years overdue. </li><li>Suozzi is running for governor of <keyword id="11892836" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="new-york" source="Orion">New York</keyword> and is facing an ethics complaint. </li></ul><p>Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who is running for governor of New York, violated a federal conflict-of-interest <keyword id="11899820" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="law" source="Orion">law</keyword> by failing to properly report 31 stock trades, according to an Insider review of congressional <a href="https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/ptr-pdfs/2022/20020552.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">financial disclosures</a>.</p><p>Taken together, the trades are worth as much as $885,000.</p><p>The trades are months or even years late. One of Suozzi's stock purchases, in aluminum manufacturer Superior Industries International, Inc., occurred on September 5, 2017, but the congressman didn't report it until March 3, 2022, <a href="https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/ptr-pdfs/2022/20020552.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">federal disclosures indicate</a>.</p><p>Under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, or <keyword id="12169748" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="stock-act" source="Orion">STOCK Act</keyword>, Suozzi was required to report the trades publicly 45 days after they happened. </p><p>The most recent of the 31 trades he reported — a purchase of between $15,001 and $50,000 in <keyword id="12479522" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="general-electric" source="Orion">General Electric</keyword> stock — came in June 2021, according to report <a href="https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/ptr-pdfs/2022/20020552.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the March 3 report</a>. </p><p>Other late trades include the stock of Apple, IBM, Citigroup, Cisco Systems, Verizon Communications, aerospace and defense contractor Boeing, asset manager BlackRock, tobacco giant Altria Group, and heavy machinery manufacturer Caterpillar.</p><p>The late disclosures come as the House is preparing to conduct a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-ban-house-hearing-trading-2022-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">formal hearing on March 16 </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/financial-conflicts-congress-members-rated-2021-12?page=stories" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to consider</a> whether to amend the STOCK Act. Among the issues lawmakers are expected to consider: banning members of <keyword id="11893699" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="congress" source="Orion">Congress</keyword> and their spouses from trading individual stock and strengthening rules governing the personal finances of elected officials.</p><p>This isn't the first time that Suozzi's stock trades have received scrutiny. The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center filed <a href="https://campaignlegal.org/press-releases/breaking-campaign-legal-center-files-complaints-against-seven-members-congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an ethics complaint</a> against Suozzi last year, saying that he failed to properly report roughly 300 trades. </p><p>Delaney Marsco, a senior legal counsel on ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, told Insider in an interview that it was impossible to know whether Suozzi's latest financial filing included some of the missing trades her organization noted in its complaint. </p><p>"Unless we get more disclosure from the representative it's very hard to know," she said. "It deprives voters of  information they have had a right to for years and haven't had." </p><p>Suozzi did not respond to Insider's questions about the late trade disclosures. His office <a href="https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/ptr-pdfs/2022/20020552.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously told NPR</a> that he doesn't manage his own stock portfolio.</p><p>Members of Congress and their spouses are required to regularly report their stock trades even if a third party, such as a broker, buys and sells <keyword id="11893878" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="stocks" source="Orion">stocks</keyword> on their behalf — and all members of Congress undergo ethics training about federal reporting requirements. </p><p>Suozzi's tardy trades <a href="https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/ptr-pdfs/2022/20020552.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detailed in his report</a> were valued somewhere between $199,031 and $885,000, according to an Insider analysis. Lawmakers are required only to report their trades in broad ranges, making an exact dollar figure difficult to pinpoint without Suozzi himself sharing the figure with Insider. </p><p>Marsco said that timely disclosures were crucial for voters to be able to evaluate what financial interests members of Congress might have when they are making decisions about spending and legislation. </p><p>"When there are years between these disclosures, we have no idea how members' actions were affected by those interests," she said. "There is a perception of corruption, that members of Congress are intentionally hiding these trades — whether they are or not — there is a perception that it's about insider information or that they don't want us to see it." <strong><br /></strong></p><h2>Dozens of lawmakers violate STOCK Act</h2><p>Suozzi was first elected to the US House in 2016 and sits on the House Committee on Financial Services, which regulates the securities and banking industries. He lost his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2006, against disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer. </p><p>Members of Congress who blow past the deadlines to report their stock trades are supposed to pay a late fee of $200 the first time they're late. <a href="https://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/Late%20Fee%20Waiver%20form%20%28final%29.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Increasingly higher fines</a> follow if they continue to be late — potentially costing tens of thousands of dollars in extreme cases. But Insider's reporting has found that rules are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-penalties-consequences-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rarely enforced</a>, especially in the House. </p><p>It's not clear whether Suozzi ever paid a late penalty. </p><p>It's also not clear where the ethics complaint stands. The Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent investigative agency, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-penalties-consequences-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">looks into</a> complaints it receives but its attorneys will typically only make investigations public if they determine they have reason to believe wrongdoing occurred.</p><p>Even then, it's the House Committee on Ethics — made up of House members — that decides whether to pursue the Office of Congressional Ethics' findings. These elected officials have the power to reprimand lawmakers, discipline staffers, or do nothing at all.  <br /><br />Lawmakers' interest in pursuing stock trading reforms came Insider's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/conflicted-congress-key-findings-stock-act-finances-investing-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Conflicted Congress"</a> project found that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-senate-house-trading-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dozens of lawmakers</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-staff-violated-stock-act-conflicts-of-interest-possible-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at least 182 senior congressional staffers</a> had failed to comply with the reporting requirements of the STOCK Act.</p><p>It also found numerous examples of conflicts of interest, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-ukraine-congress-stocks-investments-2022-3">including</a> that four members of Congress or their spouses have either currently or recently invested money in Russian companies at a time when Russia has invaded Ukraine.</p>

Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York violated a conflicts-of-interest law by disclosing stock transactions years past a federal deadline

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A congressman from the Chicago suburbs was about two months late in disclosing six-figures in <keyword id="11911182" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="stock" source="Orion">stock</keyword> transactions.</li><li><keyword id="11893699" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="congress" source="Orion">Congress</keyword> is debating whether to ban lawmakers and their spouses from trading stocks.</li></ul><p>Democratic Rep. <keyword id="13450902" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="brad-schneider" source="Orion">Brad Schneider</keyword> of Illinois violated a federal conflicts-of-interest law by disclosing two personal stock trades about two months past a federal deadline, according to financial records reviewed by Insider.</p><p>Schneider said he sold between $50,001 and $100,000 worth of stock in pet insurance company <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/trup">Trupanion Inc.</a> on December 10. On the same day, he donated between $50,001 to $100,000 of <keyword id="13450904" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="trupanion" source="Orion">Trupanion</keyword> Inc. stock that he jointly owned with his wife, <keyword id="13450903" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="julie-dann" source="Orion">Julie Dann</keyword>, to an unnamed charity.</p><p>Trupanion stock traded for as <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/trup-stock">much as $155.34 per share</a> that day, near an all-time high. It's steadily decreased in value ever since, trading between $70 and $95 per share in recent days.</p><p>But the four-term congressman, whose district includes many northern Chicago suburbs, didn't disclose his December transactions to Congress until March 17 — well after a 45-day disclosure deadline mandated by the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/conflicted-congress-key-findings-stock-act-finances-investing-2021-12">Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012</a>, commonly known as the STOCK Act.</p><div type="image" title="Congressional stock disclosure from Rep. Brad Schneider, a Democrat from Illinois." height="1814" width="1520" msid="90404164" hostid="261"></div><p>Congress <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2012/04/04/politics/stock-act-signing/index.html">passed the STOCK Act</a> a decade ago in an attempt to defend against conflicts of interests among its members and provide the public greater insight into how lawmakers invest their personal wealth.</p><p>"Representative Schneider inadvertently did not hit the 'submit' button when entering a stock transaction in December," spokesperson Maggie Harden told Insider in a statement. "He discovered the error last week and immediately submitted the data and paid the associated late fee. The mistake has now been fully resolved."</p><p>The standard fine for a late financial disclosure <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-penalties-consequences-2021-12">is $200</a>. But the Committee on House Ethics, which administers such fines, does not make public members of Congress' payments — or non-payments. Harden declined to volunteer how much Schneider paid and did not respond to a request to provide proof of payment.</p><p>Harden did not answer questions about what charity Schneider donated his shares to. Schneider's wife, Julie Dann, is president of the Charles and Audrey Dann Charitable Foundation, a charity that exists to support the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, according to the charity's <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/364018189/05_2021_prefixes_35-36%2F364018189_202006_990_2021051118084877">most recent federal tax return</a>.</p><p>Schneider's late disclosures come at a time when Congress is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-ban-congress-pelosi-mccarthy-mcconnell-schumer-2022-2">debating whether to ban</a> federal lawmakers, and potentially their immediate family members, from trading individual stocks.</p><p>A Committee on House Administration <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-ban-house-hearing-trading-2022-2">hearing on the matter</a> — delayed because Chairperson Zoe Lofgren <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-ban-hearing-covid-postponed-zoe-lofgren-2022-3">contracted COVID-19</a> — is imminent, and dozens of lawmakers have sponsored or co-sponsored several similar stock-ban bills.</p><p>Lawmakers' interest in pursuing stock trading reforms has deepened of late after Insider's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/financial-conflicts-congress-members-rated-2021-12">"Conflicted Congress"</a> project in December found that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-senate-house-trading-2021-9">dozens of lawmakers</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-staff-violated-stock-act-conflicts-of-interest-possible-2021-12">at least 182 senior congressional staffers</a>, had failed to comply with the reporting requirements of the STOCK Act.</p><p>In addition to Schneider, Insider in March alone has found that Democratic Sen. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sheldon-whitehouse-rhode-island-stock-act-congress-trading-tesla-target-2022-3">Sheldon Whitehouse</a>, Democratic <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-suozzi-stocks-congress-new-york-governor2022-3">Rep. Tom Suozzi</a> of New York, and Republican <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pete-sessions-texas-congress-stock-trade-ban-2022-3">Rep. Pete Sessions</a> of Texas each violated the STOCK Act's disclosure provisions.</p><p>"<keyword id="12727727" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="conflicted-congress" source="Orion">Conflicted Congress</keyword>" also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-members-are-trading-defense-stocks-while-shaping-military-policy-2021-12">found</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lawmakers-bought-sold-covid-19-related-stocks-during-pandemic-2021-12">numerous</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-democrats-with-fossil-fuel-stocks-investments-2021-12">examples</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lawmakers-investing-in-crypto-as-congress-weighs-regulations-2021-12">of</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-holding-stocks-facebook-twitter-disney-fox-news-2021-12">conflicts</a> of interest, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-ukraine-congress-stocks-investments-2022-3">including</a> that four members of Congress or their spouses have either currently or recently invested money in Russian companies at a time when Russia has invaded Ukraine.</p><p>At least 19 members of Congress have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-war-profiteers-stock-lockheed-martin-raytheon-investment-2022-3">investments in at least one of two defense contractors</a>, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, who manufacture missiles that Western nations are shipping to Ukraine's military.</p><p>Harden did not answer a question about whether Schneider supports any of the several bills Congress is considering that would limit or ban lawmakers' stock trades.</p><p>"The fact that members of congress repeatedly fail to comply with the simple reporting requirements in the STOCK Act just shows why congressional stock trading reform is so critical," said <a href="https://campaignlegal.org/staff/delaney-marsco">Delaney Marsco</a>, senior legal counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog organization. "Voters have a right to know what lawmakers' financial interests are in real time, and when one member's failure to click a button means voters don't get that information, it's a big problem. If lawmakers were not permitted to trade stock in the first place, this wouldn't continue to be an issue."</p>

Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois violated a conflicts-of-interest law with late stock-trade disclosures. His office blames a missed mouse click.

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d2603d8a17d6c1ad828b256-2400/trump national doral.jpg" border="0" alt="Trump National Doral" data-mce-source="The Trump Organization" data-link="https://www.trump.com/" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.trump.com/">The Trump Organization</a></span></p><p class="caption">Trump's Miami National Doral resort and golf club will be the site of the 2020 G-7 summit.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, announced at a Thursday press briefing that the US would be hosting the 2020 G7 summit at the Trump Organization-owned Miami Doral Resort.</li><li>The decision to host a major international summit at one of President <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-donald-trump-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-4">Donald Trump</a>'s personal properties is not only highly unprecedented, but risks violating the foreign emoluments clause, government ethics lawyers told Insider.</li><li>Between 2016 and 2017 alone, revenue at Doral fell 13.8% and net operating income dropped 62%, according to the Washington Post, meaning hosting a foreign summit would be a huge boon to the resort's bottom line. </li><li>"I can't think of any other times where a president has essentially awarded a contract to himself," Delaney Marsco, an ethics counsel at the Campaign Legal Center told Insider on Friday.</li><li>Congress has the authority to bar the federal government from spending federal funds at a Trump property - but it would require both the House and the GOP-controlled Senate to step in if a court does not. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul><p>The Trump administration's plan to host the 2020 G-7 summit at one of President <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-donald-trump-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-4">Donald Trump</a>'s properties in Florida is not only highly unprecedented, but risks violating the foreign emoluments clause, government ethics lawyers told Insider. </p><p>Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, announced at a Thursday press briefing that the US would be hosting the summit at the Trump Organization-owned Miami Doral Resort, telling reporters that the administration reviewed multiple locations and decided that Miami, and Doral specifically, would be the ideal location. </p><p>"It's not the only place - it's the best place," Mulvaney said, adding: "There's plenty of other good places in this country to hold a large event. There's no question about it. Some of the limitations: We wanted it at a specific time, we wanted it in early June, so that limits it a little bit. And there's difficulties with going various places."</p><p>Trump floated the idea of hosting the next summit <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-prized-doral-resort-is-in-steep-decline-according-to-company-documents-showing-his-business-problems-are-mounting/2019/05/14/03cc701a-6b54-11e9-be3a-33217240a539_story.html">at his financially underperforming resort</a> after the G7 summit this year in Biarritz, France, arguing that Doral was both spacious and conveniently located next to Miami International Airport.</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong></em><em><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-host-g7-conference-at-struggling-miami-doral-ressort-2019-10" data-analytics-position="1">Trump will host the G7 conference of world leaders at his struggling Florida golf resort</a></em></p><p>Mulvaney's announcement immediately set off a firestorm of criticism from government accountability watchdogs and ethics lawyers alike. </p><p>"I can't think of any other times where a president has essentially awarded a contract to himself," <a href="https://campaignlegal.org/staff/delaney-marsco">Delaney Marsco</a>, an ethics counsel at the Campaign Legal Center told Insider on Friday. "Ethics is a combination of laws and norms and we're seeing right now the consequences of, of these norms being violated. This is definitely extraordinary."</p><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-prized-doral-resort-is-in-steep-decline-according-to-company-documents-showing-his-business-problems-are-mounting/2019/05/14/03cc701a-6b54-11e9-be3a-33217240a539_story.html">The Washington Post reported in May</a> that Doral's net operating income had plunged by a stunning 69% since 2015. Between 2016 and 2017 alone, revenue at Doral fell 13.8% and net operating income dropped 62%, <a href="https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold/status/1184893650163191808">according to the Post's David Fahrenthold.</a></p><p>Farenthold further <a href="https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold/status/1184878082840322048">tweeted on Thursday</a>: "The summit will be held in June, when Miami is hot and Doral is usually empty. In 2017, only 38% of Doral's rooms were occupied in June. Only August (31%) was slower." He added that with Trump hosting a summit of world leaders at the facility in June, the resort would be fully booked.</p><p>At the summit, foreign leaders, their staff, and both foreign and domestic journalists would all be paying for lodging and access to the resort - directly putting money into Trump's own pockets, and helping drive business in one of the slowest tourist months of the year in Florida.</p><p>When a reporter raised the issue of Trump profiting from the event, Mulvaney replied: "he's not making any money off of this, just like he's not making any money from working here. And if you think it's going to help his brand, that's great, but I would suggest that he probably doesn't need much help promoting his brand."</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong></em><em><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-suggested-hosting-next-g7-at-his-resort-could-illegal-2019-8">Trump suggested hosting the next G7 at one of his Florida resorts, which could violate the Constitution</a></em></p><p>Marsco, however, argued that the resort's financial state is irrelevant to the question of whether the deal would violate the emoluments clauses, saying, "even if the resort was making money hand over fist for the past few years, still inappropriate and it's still a conflict of interest."</p><p>The domestic emoluments clause, located within Article II of the US Constitution, says the president "shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States," which could encompass any federal funds spent at a Trump property, for example.</p><p>And the "Nobility Clause" of the Constitution located in Article I, Section 9 decrees that "no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State."</p><p>While most presidents divest from their businesses and assets upon taking office or put them in a blind trust to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, Trump has not done so. The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-emoluments-clause/2019/10/17/1c2f46dc-f10a-11e9-bb7e-d2026ee0c199_story.html">trust of his assets</a> is managed by his sons Donald Jr. and Eric - both  executive vice-presidents at the Trump Organization - and Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg. </p><p>Earlier this year, Trump and his businesses came under scrutiny for possible emoluments clause violations <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/17/trump-scotland-turnberry-1499298">after reports in Politico</a> that the US Air Force went out of their way to make fuel stops at Trump's Turnberry Golf Course in Scotland - staying for days at a time in some cases. </p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-turnberry-airport-glasgow-prestwick-air-force-2019-9">Trump's ties to Scotland airport are getting a closer look after military personnel stayed at Turnberry golf resort</a></em></p><h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5daa0e3f4af90908a379904b-1999/ap18081705637106.jpg" border="0" alt="Mick Mulvaney" data-mce-source="Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Images" /><p class="source"><span>Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Images</span></p><p class="caption">Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney defended the decision to host the summit at Doral.</p></div><p></p></div></div></h2><h2>Only Congress or a court has the authority to step in, legal experts say</h2><p>Trump is already facing three separate lawsuits alleging emoluments violations. One filed by the attorneys general of Maryland and DC which will be heard by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-emoluments-clause/2019/10/17/1c2f46dc-f10a-11e9-bb7e-d2026ee0c199_story.html">the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals</a> argues that foreign leaders patronizing the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC violates the foreign emoluments clause. </p><p>"To the degree that the US government is paying for people to stay there, it would violate the domestic emoluments clause, and to the degree that foreign government pays for their accommodation, that would violate the foreign emoluments clause," Kathleen Clark, <a href="https://law.wustl.edu/faculty-staff-directory/profile/kathleen-clark/">a professor of government ethics law</a> at Washington University-Saint Louis told Insider in a Thursday interview. </p><p>One complicating factor to resolving questions surrounding whether Trump is violating the emoluments clause is that it largely hasn't been tested in court, and there is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-emoluments-clause/2019/10/17/1c2f46dc-f10a-11e9-bb7e-d2026ee0c199_story.html">little to no precedent in court</a> for a US president being sued over emoluments violations at all - much less a president hosting foreign governments at one of his properties.</p><p>"It's still being worked out in the courts, what exactly the monuments clause means," Marsco said. "But this is the first time that the president will effectively force foreign leaders to spend money on his properties, and it continues to raise the serious questions of whether or not his conflicts of interest are violating the constitution."</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong></em><em><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/mike-pence-stays-at-trump-doonbeg-resort-flies-dublin-meetings-2019-9-1028493282" data-analytics-position="1">Mike Pence is staying at a Trump resort in Ireland - even though it's more than 100 miles away from his meetings in Dublin</a></em></p><p>Clark told Insider that under the parameters of the constitution, Congress has the authority to bar the federal government from spending federal funds at a Trump property - but it would require both the House and the GOP-controlled Senate to step in if a court does not. </p><p>"Congress has the power to address emoluments, but the Republican-controlled Senate is either afraid of the president or hasn't been wiling to exercise its constitutional authority," Clark explained, adding that the administration "may be able to get away with it" if none of the ongoing lawsuits are resolved by next year. </p><p>In <a href="https://twitter.com/MyConstitution/status/1184892055899820034">a Thursday statement</a>, Constitutional Accountability Center President Elizabeth Wydra warned that Congress' inaction could have dire consequences that reach beyond the Trump presidency, arguing, "unless the courts expeditiously require the President to comply with the words of America's founders, the Foreign Emoluments Clause soon will lose all practical effect."</p><p><strong>Read more: </strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-hotel-house-investigation-officials-book-rooms-leave-empty-report-2019-10">At least one foreign government allegedly tried to suck up to Trump by booking rooms in his hotel but never staying in them</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-business-ties-turkey-hotels-syria-2019-10" data-analytics-position="1">Trump's disastrous retreat from Syria raises new questions about his financial interests in Turkey</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/judge-orders-trump-turn-over-8-years-tax-returns-prosecutors-2019-10">A federal judge ordered Trump to turn over 8 years of his tax returns to New York prosecutors</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-net-worth-singer-millionaire-makes-spends-money-wealth-2019-4">Taylor Swift is the world's highest-paid celebrity. Here's how she makes and spends her $360 million.</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/xPKNAYF8-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Trump hosting the G-7 at his Miami Doral resort is an 'extraordinary' breach of norms that could violate the constitution, experts say

Members of Congress publicly blast Facebook but quietly invest their savings in the social-media giant

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table lead-image-large"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5bcf6508d2e64841927c6527-1280/ap18162653083459.jpg" border="0" alt="Eric Trump, left, and Donald Trump Jr. at the opening of the Trump Golf Links clubhouse on June 11, 2018." data-mce-source="Mark Lennihan/AP" data-mce-caption="Eric Trump, left, and Donald Trump Jr. at the opening of the Trump Golf Links clubhouse on June 11, 2018." /><p class="source"><span>Mark Lennihan/AP</span></p><p class="caption">Eric Trump, left, and Donald Trump Jr. at the opening of the Trump Golf Links clubhouse on June 11, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>President Donald Trump's two eldest sons, Don Jr. and Eric, have become the president's most effective and requested surrogates, particularly in red states where Republicans are hoping to unseat vulnerable Democrats.</li><li>The two men are helped by Eric's wife, Lara Trump, and Don Jr.'s girlfriend, former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, who are campaigning as much - if not more - ahead of the midterms. </li><li>But the arrangement appears to blur what the Trump family promised would be a firewall between Trump's business, which his sons run, and <keyword id="6358883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="politics">politics</keyword>.</li></ul><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the last two years, President Donald Trump's two eldest sons have taken over a multi-billion dollar business empire. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But over the last several months, the brothers - particularly the elder, Donald Trump Jr. - have spent a significant portion of their time criss-crossing the country to fire up crowds and raise funds for Republicans eager to wrap themselves in Trump's flag ahead of next month's midterm elections. </span></p><p>While Eric and Don Jr. have insisted that they respect a strict ethical boundary between their family's business interests and their father's government work, the two have become the most sought-after presidential surrogates on the red-state campaign trail.</p><p>Andy Surabian, a Republican strategist and political adviser to Don Jr., said Trump's eldest son will likely log more than 60 campaign events between May and Election Day on Nov. 6 - and that number doesn't include all of the other fundraising events, including for the Trump-aligned super PAC America First Action, he has headlined over the last year.</p><p>"With the exception of the president and vice president, I can't think of another Republican surrogate that's been more active on the trail and more requested by Republican candidates this cycle than Don," Surabian told Business Insider. </p><h2>'An extension of their father' </h2><p>For many Republicans seeking office or attempting to maintain their hold on power this year, the surest way to victory is by fully embracing the president and the party base. The best way to do this is to have a Trump family member bless their campaign - if they're lucky, repeatedly.</p><p>Surabian argued that Don Jr. is particularly effective on the stump because, like his father, he's authentically devoted to his right-wing ideology. He added that the real estate mogul wields his Twitter account like a "political weapon" and, much like his father, can turn a particularly controversial or vicious tweet into a news cycle. </p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Don is like the id of the Trump base," Surabian said. "[He] has a natural connection with movement conservatives because Don himself is a movement conservative with a big libertarian streak running down his back. He speaks their language because he actually agrees with them - and that's the type of thing you can't fake." </span></p><p>Also like their father, Don Jr. and Eric are comfortable both ginning up grassroots support at a rally and soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars at big-city donor events. </p><p>"The Trump sons are seen as an extension of their father," a Republican strategist, who asked not to be identified in order to speak candidly about the Senate races he's working on, told Business Insider. "Voters view them as sort of the messenger for their father's policies and they've done a very good job embracing that."</p><h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5bd0fc2e7bec7f0a37683294-1035/gettyimages-1047307528.jpg" border="0" alt="Kimberly Guilfoyle and Donald Trump Jr. at a Ted Cruz rally on October 3, 2018 in Conroe, Texas." data-mce-source="Bob Levey/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Kimberly Guilfoyle and Donald Trump Jr. at a Ted Cruz rally on October 3, 2018 in Conroe, Texas." /><p class="source"><span>Bob Levey/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Kimberly Guilfoyle and Donald Trump Jr. at a Ted Cruz rally on October 3, 2018 in Conroe, Texas.</p></div><p></p></div></div></h2><h2>Hammering Democrats in red states </h2><p>Republican operatives say the Trump family's ability to galvanize the conservative base is particularly valuable this year in red states where Democratic incumbents are attempting to hold on to their seats - places like Montana where Sen. Jon Tester is fending off a challenge from Republican <span>Matt Rosendale and </span>West Virginia, where Sen. Joe Manchin is in the lead against Republican state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. </p><p>Don Jr. has been particularly active in Montana, where the native New Yorker developed a fondness for hunting and fishing years before his father won the state by 20 points. The 40-year-old has used his personal connection to the state as a platform to push his politics. </p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"</span>As many of you probably know, I'm a big shooter, a big hunter, a big fisherman, so I feel ridiculous in this suit," Don Jr. <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/07/05/watch_live_trump_rallies_with_jon_tester_challenger_in_montana.html">told the cheering crowd</a> at a Bozeman rally for Montana Republicans in July. </p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just a few months after Don Jr.'s ex-wife, <span>Vanessa Haydon Trump, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-jr-wife-filed-for-divorce-2018-3">filed for divorce</a> in March, </span>the father of five made his relationship with longtime Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle public in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-jr-dating-kimberly-guilfoyle-2018-6">a series of Instagram photos</a><span> of the couple fly-fishing in Montana. In August, Guilfoyle officially <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-kimberly-guilfoyle-leaving-to-campaign-with-donald-trump-jr-2018-7">left the cable news network</a> where she'd become a well-known opinion host over her 15-year career to join Don Jr. on the campaign trail. Since then, the two have attended virtually every campaign event together. </span></span></p><p>The couple is set to make their third campaign trip to Montana this year for an eight-stop bus tour on Friday and Saturday while stumping for Rosendale and Rep. Greg Gianforte. Tester's campaign has pushed back on the Trump family influence in Montana by characterizing Don Jr. (without naming him) and Rosendale as out-of-staters - a damning charge in the rural Western state.</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Insurance Co</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">mmissioner Matt Rosendale continues to bring in fellow out-of-staters to bolster his campaign because Montanans know Rosendale's record reflects his East Coast values, not our Montana values," Chris Meagher, the communications director for Tester's reelection campaign, told Business Insider in an email. </span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5bd0fca8f0688a090718ddc5-1280/gettyimages-1052778870.jpg" border="0" alt="Eric and Lara Trump kick off a rally in support of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on October 22 in Houston, Texas." style="color: #000000;" data-mce-source="Loren Elliott/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Eric and Lara Trump kick off a rally in support of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on October 22 in Houston, Texas." /><p class="source"><span>Loren Elliott/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Eric and Lara Trump kick off a rally in support of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on October 22 in Houston, Texas.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>And Don Jr. has made multiple trips to West Virginia and headlined two major fundraising events for the state's GOP candidates, bringing helpful media attention to Morrisey's campaign.</p><p>"Patrick was in a parade on Saturday and along the trail there were a dozen folks or so who were like, 'Hey, I'm so excited to see Don Jr. on Monday, it's gonna be a great rally,'' Nathan Brand, Morrisey's communications director, told Business Insider.</p><p>Meanwhile, Eric has traveled the country to support Trumpian Republicans in places like Tennessee, North Carolina, and Michigan, where an energized Trump base could protect vulnerable Republican seats. His wife, Lara Trump, who has spent the last 18 months advising the Trump campaign, often appears by his side or at events on her own. </p><p>"ISIS is gone," Eric announced <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIj32p9JmbE">at a rally in Houston on Monday</a> just after Lara told the Texas crowd that "we have never in the history of our country been closer to a denuclearized Korean peninsula than right now" - two demonstrably untrue presidential talking points. </p><h2>Ethical questions </h2><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While the president's sons' public political work doesn't violate any laws or government rules, ethics experts say the activity risks breaching the firewall the Trump family promised to maintain between the Trump Organization and their father's administration. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At a political fundraiser last year, Don Jr. told an audience of Texas donors that he essentially no longer communicated with his father. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I basically have zero contact with him at this point," <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/donald-trump-jr-fundraiser-president-s-son-says-zero-contact-n732356">he said</a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Don Jr. and Eric have repeatedly claimed that the president doesn't discuss government matters with them and they don't talk with their father about the family business, despite the fact that they provide him with quarterly financial reports. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"We do not have any role in the current administration and take the separation of the Trump Org and the office of the president very seriously," they <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-sons-business-presidency-tweets-236200">said in a statement to Politico</a> in March 2017. </span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5bcfef73bac52b04282a2ca2-1500/donald trump jr eric.jpg" border="0" alt="Donald Trump Jr Eric" style="color: #000000;" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Jae C. Hong" data-mce-caption="Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, is flanked by his two sons, Donald Trump Jr., left, and Eric, while speaking at a caucus night rally Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, in Las Vegas." /><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Jae C. Hong</span></p><p class="caption">Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, is flanked by his two sons, Donald Trump Jr., left, and Eric, while speaking at a caucus night rally Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, in Las Vegas.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>But the close political relationship between the president, who has not divested from his sprawling business interests, and his two eldest sons calls these supposed boundaries between the president's political and business interests into question.</p><p>Surabian said that while Don Jr. is on the road, sometimes visiting three states in a single day, he conducts his work for the Trump Organization remotely. </p><p>"It's hard to tell where the Trump Organization stops and the campaign or the administration begins," Jordan Libowitz, the communications director at the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told Business Insider.</p><p>It's the existence of these questions - and the seemingly permeable boundary between the president and the chief executives of his business - that concern ethics experts. </p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"The public shouldn't have to wonder if the president's businesses are using their connection to him to influence the political process or decision-making in any way," Delaney Marsco, legal counsel at the non-profit Campaign Legal Center, told Business Insider. </span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/detonating-most-powerful-nuclear-bomb-space-starfish-prime-tsar-bomba-2018-9">What if the most powerful nuclear bomb exploded in space</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/JjeKVX9R-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

You Searched For "delaney marsco" and got 9 results

Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas appears to violate a federal conflict-of-interest law with late disclosure of a mining stock sale

Madison Hall

Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, a New York gubernatorial hopeful, just violated the STOCK Act again

Madison Hall

Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan of Indiana said he was worth millions. He was wrong.

Madison Hall

Rep. George Santos was paid by a company the SEC called a 'classic Ponzi scheme' but never disclosed the payments as a candidate, report says

Kelsey Vlamis

Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York violated a conflicts-of-interest law by disclosing stock transactions years past a federal deadline

Kimberly Leonard

Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois violated a conflicts-of-interest law with late stock-trade disclosures. His office blames a missed mouse click.

Dave Levinthal

Trump hosting the G-7 at his Miami Doral resort is an 'extraordinary' breach of norms that could violate the constitution, experts say

Grace Panetta

Members of Congress publicly blast Facebook but quietly invest their savings in the social-media giant

Robin Bravender,Dave Levintha…

Don Jr. and Eric Trump have become their dad's most effective surrogates in red states where the GOP is hammering Democrats

Eliza Relman