The Office of Government Ethics responded in real time to the confirmation hearing of Rep. Tom Price — making clear to the public that signing off on his forms filed as the nominee for Health and Human Services does not approve past behavior.
The broadside came in response to Price defending himself before senators in a contentious hearing where Democrats questioned whether Price’s stock transactions were inappropriate.
Under questioning about his investments, Price cited the Office of Government Ethics and its “diligence” in its role reviewing all Cabinet nominees’ financial records
“We have agreed to every single recommendation that they’ve made to divest of whatever holdings we have that might even give the appearance of a possible conflict,” Price said.
But the OGE quickly fired off a series of tweets making clear that its review of Price’s financial holdings and potential conflicts of interest if confirmed focuses only on the future — not what Price has done previously.
CNN reported on Monday that financial disclosures show Price invested in a medical device manufacturer days before introducing a bill that would benefit that company. Democrats including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have called for an investigation into whether Price may have violated the law.
Price has said the stocks were purchased through a broker and that he did not know which stocks he owned.
He repeated that he did nothing inappropriate and pointed to disclosures he made to OGE that were signed off on in the nomination process.
“OGE’s focus is prevention; IGs investigate potential misconduct & @TheJusticeDept prosecutes criminal violations,” OGE tweeted shortly thereafter.
“OGE oversees the executive branch #ethics program, while Congress & the Courts have their own ethics programs,” they continued. “OGE does not handle complaints of misconduct. Please learn where & how to report #fed employee misconduct,” the agency wrote, including links to its missions and procedures.
It’s not the first time OGE has tangled with the incoming Trump administration.
The office’s Twitter account has been vocal in advocating for full divestment by President-elect Donald Trump, which Trump is not opting to do, and the chief of the office has been vocal about his concerns.
An expert on ethics and former Federal Election Commission general council said Price’s submission to OGE would not have been scrutinized for past actions.
“The Office of Government ethics reviews his current situation for potential conflicts of interest and negotiates an agreement with how he should handle (divestment) in the future,” Larry Noble, general counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, said about Price’s testimony. “It does not look at his past activity.”
Noble also said that purchasing the stock through a broker alone wouldn’t mean there are no ethical questions — saying Price would need to assure he and the broker did not discuss the stock or the bill.
“The fact of the matter is that I have had no conversations with my broker about any political activity at all other than her congratulating me on my election,” Price said before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said that Price appeared to have invested in a number of drug companies before taking action to “inflate” those firms’ values.
“Why wouldn’t you at least tell her, ‘Listen, stay clear of any companies that are directly affected by my legislative work?'” Murphy asked.
“Because the agreement that we have is that she’d provide a diversified portfolio, which is exactly what virtually every one of you have in your investment opportunities, and make certain that in order to protect one’s assets, that there’s a diversified arrangement for purchase of stocks,” Price said. “I knew nothing about those purchases.”