{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/baldwin-calls-for-ig-investigation-of-commerce-secretary-ross", "U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Calls For Inspector General Investigation of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross", "2017-11-14", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "WI", "Tammy Baldwin", "B001230", "www.baldwin.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.14.17\n\t\t\t U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Calls For Inspector General Investigation of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Six Senators call for an independent inquiry into Ross\u2019 possible failure to comply with divestment or recusal requirements\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin joined a group of six senators, led by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), in calling on the Inspector General (IG) of the Commerce Department to open an independent inquiry into Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross\u2019 compliance with ethics requirements. Today\u2019s letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).\r\nThe Senators\u2019 letter details several areas of concern, including:\r\n \r\nAscertaining the true value of Secretary Ross\u2019 personal wealth;\r\nWhether Secretary Ross has complied with the divestment requirements in his ethics agreement;\r\nWhether Secretary Ross has complied with the recusal requirements in his ethics agreement and the adequacy of that agreement; and\r\nWhether senior department officials have been allowed to serve despite conflicts of interest.\r\n \r\nAs part of his confirmation process, Ross committed to an ethics agreement that required he divest significant assets and recuse himself from actions that would affect the assets he was permitted to retain. After missing several deadlines to provide proof that he has sold problematic assets, it remains unclear whether Ross has actually complied with the divestment requirements outlined in his original ethics agreement. Ross also appears to be actively participating in policymaking that could have a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of the assets he has retained, which would violate that agreement\u2019s recusal terms.\r\nFollowing additional reporting that raises serious questions about Ross\u2019 true net worth and the structure of his finances, it is also unclear whether or not the original ethics agreement is truly sufficient to prevent conflicts of interest. This reporting also raises concerns about high-ranking Department of Commerce officials including Secretary Ross\u2019 chief of staff, Wendy Teramoto, who appears to have served on the board of a shipping company at the same time she oversaw trade deals that may have impacted that company\u2019s finances.\r\nThe full text of the Senators\u2019 letter is available here and copied below.\r\n\u00a0\r\nDear Inspector General Gustafson:\r\nWe write to request that you commence an investigation of Secretary Wilbur Ross and his chief of staff, Ms. Wendy Teramoto, to ensure that their conduct and representations are consistent with all ethical requirements of the U.S. Department of Commerce.\u00a0\r\nAscertaining the true value of Secretary Ross\u2019s personal wealth\r\nOn October 26, 2017, many of us wrote to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) regarding inconsistent statements that Secretary Ross and Commerce Department officials provided to Forbes magazine.\u00a0 These statements concerned a mysterious transfer of approximately $2 billion that Secretary Ross contends he made between last year\u2019s presidential election and his nomination for Commerce secretary.\u00a0 According to the magazine, Secretary Ross told a Forbes reporter these \u201cassets were put into trust\u201d sometime \u201cbetween election and the nomination.\u201d\u00a0 A statement from the Commerce Department in response to Forbes contradicts Secretary Ross, stating \u201cthere was no major asset transfer to a trust in the period between the election and Secretary Ross\u2019s confirmation.\u201d\u00a0 A new report from Forbes released last week contends that the approximate $2 billion never existed at all.\r\nOther statements from Secretary Ross make us further question the extent of his holdings.\u00a0 As part of the confirmation process, Secretary Ross provided written answers to the Senate in response to several written questions.\u00a0 Senator Blumenthal asked in writing of Secretary Ross, \u201cDo you receive a financial benefit over any offshore company or entity?\u201d; \u201cDo you exercise control over any offshore company or entity?\u201d; and \u201cDo you have signature authority over any offshore accounts?\u201d\u00a0 Secretary Ross\u2019s written responses to these questions only revealed some stock and a board membership in Arcelor Mittal and a bank account in Ireland with the equivalent of about $58,000.\u00a0 The document with questions and answers is attached.\u00a0 Recent news reports about documents known as the \u201cParadise Papers\u201d reveal Secretary Ross\u2019s extensive, complicated holdings in offshore accounts that lead us to conclude these responses are severely insufficient.\r\nWe urge you to examine the veracity of Secretary Ross\u2019s 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.\u00a0\r\nWhether Secretary Ross has complied with the divestment requirements in his ethics agreement\u00a0\r\nAs part of the confirmation process, Secretary Ross agreed to divest \u2013 or sell off \u2013 80 assets over the course of several months.\u00a0 Ethics officials allowed Secretary Ross to retain twelve other assets (listed in sections 7 and 10 of his agreement).\u00a0\r\nThe assets that Secretary Ross agreed to divest were lumped into two groups.\u00a0 On one list were 40 assets he agreed to sell within 90 days of confirmation (Section I of Attachment A).\u00a0 On another list were 40 assets he agreed to sell within 180 days of confirmation (Section II of Attachment A).\u00a0 On November 5, 2017 \u2013 the day after the story broke about the Paradise Papers \u2013 a document appeared on OGE\u2019s website signed by Secretary Ross declaring his compliance with the ethics agreement, stating he had \u201ccompleted all of the divestitures\u201d per his agreement.\u00a0 Whether he has yet to fully divest is uncertain.\r\nSecretary Ross was confirmed on February 27, 2017.\u00a0 The first divestment deadline was May 28, 2017, the date by which he should have divested all 40 assets listed in Section I of Attachment A.\u00a0 No document was filed in that window.\u00a0 Five days after the deadline, on June 2, he signed a document claiming to have sold everything he had agreed to sell on the list.\u00a0 He filed documents \u2013 known as transaction reports \u2013 that were posted on OGE\u2019s website reflecting his divestment of many of these assets.\u00a0 But as of today, there appears to be no proof of divestment of up to fourteen of the assets that appeared on the list of assets he said he had sold, including several Invesco funds.\u00a0 Moreover, the document in which he claims to have completed the divestiture warns there was an \u201cunanticipated delay\u201d concerning sale of three assets: Air Lease Corp., Bank of Cyprus and BankUnited. But Secretary Ross fails to explain the \u201cunanticipated delay.\u201d\u00a0 He has filed documents claiming divestment of Air Lease and BankUnited, but he has yet to file proof of any transfer concerning his Bank of Cyprus interests.\r\nThe next deadline was August 26, 2017 \u2013 the date to sell all of the 40 assets listed in Section II of Attachment A of his agreement.\u00a0 But that date came and went.\u00a0 On September 5, 2017, Secretary Ross filed a document claiming he had been granted a 60-day extension of the deadline by Commerce ethics officials, \u201cdue to the outsourcing of the accounting function of the firm that handles some partnerships in which I have interests.\u201d\u00a0 The next deadline was October 25, 2017, the date by which he should have sold those assets.\u00a0 That date came and went, too.\u00a0 Finally, on November 1, he signed a document claiming to have divested everything; that document was made public November 5, 2017.\u00a0 Nonetheless, he appears to have filed little proof of divestment of these assets.\u00a0 While we understand he has several weeks until he must file proof, he contends that the filing of proof of divestment is somehow not applicable \u2013 having checked \u201cN/A\u201d on the form where it requires such proof.\r\nTo further confuse matters, the ethics forms that Secretary Ross submitted during the confirmation process lists broad ranges for the value for these interests \u2013 not specific stakes of ownership.\u00a0 This makes it difficult to determine whether his transactions involving an asset constitute all ownership in that interest or just a portion thereof.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We urge you to investigate and confirm that Secretary Ross has complied with all the deadlines in his agreement, whether Secretary Ross has divested all assets per his agreement \u2013 including how, e.g., by sale, by gift, etc., whether the process for divestment was conducted in an orderly, legitimate manner, and whether the extensions he was provided by ethics officials were valid.\r\nWhether Secretary Ross has complied with the recusal requirements in his ethics agreement and the adequacy of that agreement\r\nSecretary Ross is supposed to recuse himself from actions that would affect the assets he has been allowed to retain.\u00a0 Whether he has done so is questionable.\r\nSecretary Ross\u2019s ethics agreement allows him to retain certain assets related to \u201creal estate financing and mortgage lending\u201d and \u201ctransoceanic shipping\u201d \u2013 like Diamond S Shipping and Navigator Holdings \u2013 but retained within off-shore holding companies.\u00a0 In order to retain these assets, Secretary Ross pledged he would \u201cnot participate personally and substantially in any particular matter that to my knowledge has a direct and predictable effect on the financial interest of the entity\u201d unless he receives a waiver or qualifies for an exemption.\u00a0 Secretary Ross committed to \u201cremain vigilant in identifying any particular matters affecting the interests of these entities and their holdings,\u201d and he recognized that his pledge also barred him from participation in matters impacting the industries of those assets.\r\nAs secretary, Secretary Ross is pursuing policies that could have a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of the assets he has retained and the industries in which they hold a presence.\u00a0 For example, Secretary Ross has led efforts to advance trade agreements with China and other countries regarding shipments of liquid natural gas and petroleum products.\u00a0 These commodities are shipped by vessels owned by entities in which he retains a significant financial stake.\u00a0 His trade efforts could also affect other kinds of freight and cargo shipments that could provide his business interests with valuable sources of income.\u00a0 In addition, as another example, Secretary Ross oversees the Bureau of Industry and Security, which implements U.S. sanctions against other countries.\u00a0 Secretary Ross also maintains an influential role in this administration, having known and worked with President Donald Trump for decades, advising him on all matter of infrastructure and economic policy.\u00a0 His policy efforts and decisions on these fronts could further aid his business interests.\r\nWe urge you to obtain all records of recusal and verify compliance.\u00a0 We further urge you to investigate whether Secretary Ross has participated in matters personally and substantially that could affect the assets he was allowed to retain, whether there are any assets that he pledged to divest but has yet to sell, all conflicts that Secretary Ross has personally identified, whether Secretary Ross has been given any waivers and the nature of those waivers, any exemptions he has been provided and the nature of those exemptions, and the adequacy of the agreement governing Secretary Ross.\r\nWhether senior department officials have been allowed to serve despite conflicts of interest\r\nFinally, recent news reports have revealed that Secretary Ross\u2019s chief of staff, Ms. Wendy Teramota, remained on the board of a shipping company called Navigator until July 17, 2017, yet she began working at the Department several months earlier in March.\u00a0 The Commerce Department has stated in some reports that she was simply working as a \u201cpart-time special position as an advisor.\u201d\u00a0 Yet several reports contradict that claim, contending she was working on high-profile matters at the department for months before she separated from Navigator \u2013 including work on trade matters that would directly affect Navigator.\r\nThese 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.\r\nWe urge you to examine what, if any, ethical constraints were placed on Ms. Teramoto before she began her tenure at the department, what ethics agreement have governed her tenure, the adequacy of any ethics agreements governing her tenure, what matters she has been involved in since her tenure began, who in the department has allowed her to work on matters when there was a clear conflict, and whether and to what extent she has been affiliated with any other businesses since she began her employment at the department.\u00a0\r\nWe appreciate you close attention to these issues.\u00a0 If there are any matters that fall outside the scope of your authority, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can ensure other officials are properly addressing them.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], 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