A watchdog group alleges that Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, filed inconsistent financial disclosure statements regarding investments, which potentially violated House rules and federal law if the unreported assets exceed $1,000 in value.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Conduct seeking an investigation into Crockett for failing to fully disclose financial investments in two dozen companies.

“Generally, a lot of members of Congress are trading and holding assets that could be considered a conflict of interest,” Kendra Arnold, executive director of FACT, told The Daily Signal. “When we see members of Congress not taking financial disclosure seriously, we do see other ethics problems.”

Crockett is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives, where she also filed financial statements. When candidates run for federal office, they disclose financial information for the current and past year. 

The ethics complaint contends that the state disclosure for 2021 was very different from federal disclosures covering the same period. 

The complaint notes that as a member of the Texas Legislature, Crockett reported owning stock in at least 25 companies, including Amazon, AstraZeneca, Exxon Mobil, Moderna, and Uber. However, her federal filings as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives covering the same period listed investments in just three companies.

Crockett’s office did not respond to email and phone inquiries for this story last week and this week.

The foundation’s complaint says that publicly available stock valuations and records indicate that at least some of these undisclosed assets exceeded the $1,000 reporting limit. That means her failure to report them might violate federal disclosure requirements.

FACT regularly investigates potential violations of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, better known as the STOCK Act of 2012, which aims to prevent potential conflicts of interest among members of Congress with shares in publicly traded companies. 

Members of Congress must file annual financial disclosure reports accounting for assets, debts, and income, as well report transactions exceeding $1,000.

Arnold said there is no automatic policing system in Congress, leaving it to watchdogs to discover problems to report to the Office of Congressional Conduct. 

“There is no checking or auditing process,” Arnold said. “The financial disclosures are key to our democracy to one, ensure transparency; and two, ensure that members of Congress are not involved in conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of interest.”

The complaint details the alleged inconsistencies between Crockett’s Texas Legislature disclosure and congressional disclosure. 

“In her Texas filing covering the year 2021, Crockett states she owned stock in at least 25 companies, including: Amazon, American Airlines, AstraZeneca PLC, Aurora Cannabis, AT&T, Brinker International, Bristol-Myers Squib, Carnival, Corporate Cannabis, DuPont, Devon, Energy Corp, Exxon Mobil, GM, Ford, Johnson & Johnson, MGM Resorts, Moderna Inc, Match the Market, Newell Brands Inc, Occidental Petroleum, RedHill Biopharma (RDHL), Uber, Sabra Health Care REIT, Stocks Worldwide, T2 Biosystems (TTOO), ALNA, SNUS, and VBIV. She also reported owing debts of $110,000,” the complaint says.

The complaint later states: “Three of her federal filings [covering] 2021, were, however, inconsistent with her earlier Texas filing covering the same year. In her federal disclosures, Crockett only reported owning shares of Devon Energy Corporation, MGM Resorts International, and Moderna, Inc. and did not include the 25 other stocks.”

The complaint says it’s possible—yet unlikely—Crockett would not be required to disclose her shares in the unreported companies. 

“While it is conceivable that Rep. Crockett’s stock shares in these 25 corporations could fall under a value of $1,000 each, the publicly known facts suggest otherwise,” the complaint says. “For instance, at least two of the stocks that Crockett did not disclose, T2 Biosystems and Red Hill Biopharama, were valued at more than $1,000 per share for the entirety of 2021.”

“This means that so long as Crockett owned a single share of these stocks, regardless of whether she sold them or continued to own them at the end of 2021, she was required to disclose her ownership during the year,” the complaint adds.

The post In Hot Water: Jasmine Crockett Faces Probe Over Conflicting Financial Disclosures appeared first on The Daily Signal.