In a letter to Sen. Joe Manchin, the energy secretary says she recently learned her husband sold about $2,500 in Ford stock and that she owned shares in six companies that ethics officials deemed “nonconflicting assets.”
About $2,500 in Ford Motor Co. stock is among the ethical concerns prompting a Republican senator to call for an investigation of U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
Granholm told the U.S. Senate’s energy committee that she recently learned her husband owned the Ford shares, which he sold in May. She testified in an April budget hearing that she did not own any individual stocks.
In a June 9 letter to the committee’s chairman, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Granholm said she also should have disclosed stock she owned in six companies that agency ethics officials had determined to be “nonconflicting assets.”
“I should have said that I did not own any conflicting stocks,” Granholm wrote.
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., responded by asking the Department of Energy’s inspector general to examine “multiple instances of questionable ethical conduct since the start of her tenure” in 2021.
Granholm championed Ford and other Michigan automotive companies while serving as the state’s governor from 2003 to 2011. Ford has supported the Biden administration’s efforts to increase fuel economy standards and encourage production of electric vehicles.
“As I was not previously aware of the asset, I did not report my spouse’s financial interest on my two prior Public Financial Disclosure Reports, nor was it included in the other paperwork associated with my nomination,” Granholm wrote. “As a public servant, I take very seriously the commitment to hold myself to the highest ethical standards, and I regret the accidental omission of my spouse’s interest in Ford.”
