Thread by @dsamuelsohn

NEW: Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm violated a federal conflicts-of-interest and transparency law by improperly reporting up to a quarter-million dollars in stock sales, per a @thisisinsider analysis of financial disclosure documents. by @WARojas businessinsider.com/biden-administ…

Granholm — one of the Biden administration's highest-ranking officials whose personal finances have come under previous scrutiny — reported making nine stock trades between April 30, 2021, and October 26, 2021.

But she disclosed these trades to the Office of Government Ethics on December 15, 2021, and December 16, 2021 — either weeks or months past a 30-day disclosure deadline prescribed by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012.

Granholm's stock sales involved shares of biopharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences Inc. — a major government contractor and maker of COVID-19 treatment remdesivir — mobility service Uber, and real estate company Redfin.

Administration officials declined to discuss the timing or vetting of Granholm's financial disclosures. A Department of Energy spokesperson did not explain why Granholm's disclosures were late.

"The Department of Energy's ethics office has certified that based on her reports, Secretary Granholm's financial holdings are in compliance with the law," Department of Energy spokeswoman Charisma Troiano wrote in an email to Insider.

In disclosures filed with the Office of Government Ethics, Granholm wrote "No" when asked if she'd been notified about the stock transactions more than 30 days ago.

That same document, however, includes instructions emphasizing that transactions must be disclosed within 30 days of notification of a stock trade "but not later than 45 days after the transaction," regardless of when Granholm knew about them.

High-ranking officials such as Granholm often use financial advisors or brokers to execute trades on their behalf, although the level of involvement Granholm has in managing and overseeing her personal finances is unclear.

First-time violators of the STOCK Act's disclosure provisions generally face a $200 fine. It's unclear whether Granholm has paid any penalty.

Pleading ignorance isn't a defense against the STOCK Act's disclosure deadline, said Walter Shaub, a former director of the Office of Government Ethics.

"She's saying that she only just learned of the transactions … so it's possible the ethics officials took that statement at face value" and certified them, said Shaub, who's now a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight.

The trio of ethics officials who signed off on Granholm's filings — Department of Energy attorneys Susan Beard and Rachel Kestenbaum, as well as Office of Government Ethics aide Megan Granahan — should have dug deeper, Shaub said.

"Why didn't she know the transactions at the time?" Shaub asked. An Office of Government Ethics spokesperson acknowledged Insider's multiple requests for comment but didn't respond to any of the questions posed.

Granholm, who the Senate confirmed in February 2021, faced scrutiny early on for owning millions of dollars worth of stock in Proterra, Inc., a developer of zero-emission electric vehicles that President Joe Biden touted early in his presidency.