Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm corrected the record Friday regarding the stocks she owned at the time of her nomination.
Granholm sent a letter, obtained by the Washington Examiner, to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources to clarify that she did, in fact, own individual stocks when she was questioned about it during a hearing on her selection in 2021. At the time, Granholm denied owning any stocks and was subsequently confirmed to the position.
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“I mistakenly told the Committee that I did not own any individual stocks,” Granholm wrote, “whereas I should have said that I did not own any conflicting stocks.”
As of May 18, over two years after she was sworn in, Granholm divested her remaining undisclosed six stocks. The letter comes as the energy secretary is visiting California to speak at Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s 11th Annual Energy and Sustainability Summit ahead of the state receiving $21.2 billion in the name of large-scale clean power generation.
Her husband, Daniel Mulhern, also owned $2,457.89 worth of shares in Ford Motor Company, which he divested on May 15.
“Secretary Granholm lied to the committee about her family’s stock holdings. This comes after her failure to follow basic ethics and disclosure rules,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “This is a troubling pattern. It is unacceptable.”
A Department of Energy spokesperson disagreed, saying in a statement to the Washington Examiner that the letter “underscores the Secretary’s commitment to transparency and to leading a DOE that puts the interests of the American people above all else.”
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“The Secretary takes the commitment to uphold the highest ethical standards very seriously, which is why, upon realizing a comment made in error, the Secretary moved quickly to divest non-conflicting assets along with an asset held by her spouse of which she was previously unaware,” the department spokesperson said.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who leads the committee, did not respond to a request for comment.