NYT Blasts Dr. Oz’s Financial Disclosure, While Jennifer Granholm’s Near-Identical One Escaped Scrutiny
- February 25, 2025
Tristian Justice, The Federalist
Former President Joe Biden’s energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, received twice as much time to divest from conflicting companies before her tenure in the administration as Dr. Mehmet Oz, but the press coverage of Oz is far less generous.
The New York Times published two stories this month raising alarm about the celebrity doctor’s financial interests as he is poised to take charge of the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid programs. The most recent story out Monday chronicles, “How His Millions Collide With Medicare.”
On the other hand, a Federalist analysis of the financial disclosure filed by recent Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm reveals the former Biden official’s pledge of divestment from the electric vehicle company, Proterra, was nearly identical. Except Granholm, whose holdings in Proterra became a scandal for the administration, gave herself 180 days, or twice as long, to leave her stock in the company.
“The Rip van Winkles at the New York Times have a lot to catch up on after their four-year nap,” said Michael Chamberlain, the director of the ethics watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust. “Biden Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm had similar financial interests in 2021, among them her status as a board member of the electric vehicle component manufacturer Proterra until her confirmation.”
Chamberlain told The Federalist that Granholm, “still held more than $1 million in Proterra stock options when President Biden and other administration officials promoted the company during a tour of its Greenville, SC plant.”
“Yet, the Times claims this provision in Dr. Oz’s agreement is ‘murky,’” Chamberlain told The Federalist. “To this day, the same newspaper, according to both Google and its own website, hasn’t seen fit to mention Ms. Granholm and Proterra in the same article.”