Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm faces renewed ethics heat over finances: “Unacceptable”
- June 14, 2023
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm‘s admission about giving false testimony on stock ownership is sparking heightened concerns among lawmakers and watchdogs, who contend her transparency lapses are highly troubling.
Granholm told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in a Friday letter she “mistakenly” testified in April that she “did not own any individual stocks,” even though Granholm meant to say she “did not own any conflicting stocks.” The secretary, who has been sharply criticized for her ethical and financial decisions since being tapped by President Joe Biden, also informed the panel that her husband, Daniel Mulhern, owned shares in Ford Motor Company despite a lack of prior disclosure.
“Issuing a statement six weeks later without any explanation is unacceptable,” Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s one of two things at this point. She’s either incompetent or lying.”
“These latest revelations are unfortunately just par for the course at Secretary Granholm’s Department of Energy,” Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust, a right-leaning watchdog, said. “It sure would be hard to convince anyone of the Biden administration’s claims to be the most ethical in history by looking at Jennifer Granholm’s Department.”