Josh Hawley criticizes Energy Secretary Granholm for fostering ‘institutionalized corruption’ at DOE
Senator Josh Hawley criticized Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm for not disclosing her ownership of individual stocks, accusing her of deceiving Congress. The tense exchange took place during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. Granholm admitted to the oversight, attributing it to her belief that she no longer held any individual stocks. However, Hawley contested her delayed disclosure, highlighting inconsistencies in her testimony.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) slammed Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Tuesday for not reporting individual stocks she owned and accused her of misleading Congress when she previously claimed she did not own any.
The heated exchange, which lasted several minutes, happened during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.
“When you were here last, I talked with you about the fact that more than 130 officials in the Energy Department reported more than 2,700 trades of shares, bonds, and options in companies that ethics officers said was directly related to the agency’s work,” Hawley began. “This is institutionalized corruption. And I asked you point blank, ‘Do you own any individual stock?’ And you told me, ‘No.’”
“Turns out that was false,” he continued. “You did own multiple individual stocks and you neglected to report it to this committee for months afterwards. Why did you mislead this committee?”
“Oh, my goodness,” Granholm responded, claiming: “I believed that I had sold all individual stocks. And I was incorrect.”
After several moments of intense back-and-forth, Hawley pushed back on her claim that she immediately notified the committee when she learned that she owned individual stock.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, no, that’s not true, either,” Hawley said. “Let’s just look at the timeline. Let’s not–, I just remind you, you’re under oath. Madam Secretary, you testified you didn’t own any individual stocks. You didn’t sell the stocks for a whole other month. And after you sold the stocks, you waited another month before you informed this committee. Why did you mislead us? And what were you hiding? Why did you wait so long? Why did you hide this?”
Granholm insisted that she did not “hide” her false claim but later added that she didn’t know what five of the six individual stocks that she was forced to sell were.
“You’re here before this committee a year later, after actively misleading us after denying and delaying and delaying. And now you won’t tell us. Was one of them Proterra?” Hawley pressed. “You sat on the board of directors at Proterra. You made millions in end reports and stock options at Proterra then you, you promoted Proterra stock and Proterra products as energy secretary. Was that one of the stocks that you sold?”
“This is so, I mean, really?” Granholm responded.
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“Yes, really,” Hawley fired back. “You are presiding over institutionalized corruption in your Energy Department, you have violated the Stock Act nine separate times. You have been referred by the Inspector General for violations of the Hatch Act. It is institutionalized corruption that you are now the face of and here’s what I’m trying to figure out. I just want to know who really runs the Energy Department. Is it you? Or is it the mega-corporations whose stock that you own that you’re making profits in?”
Hawley concluded a few minutes later by saying she needed to resign from her department.
WATCH:
MUST WATCH: Sen. @HawleyMO blasts a flustered Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm over failing to disclose owning conflicting stocks. pic.twitter.com/Md0JVc8LNJ
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