Earned millions in 2017

Trump's wealthiest Cabinet members earned millions in 2017

By LORRAINE WOELLERT and THEODORIC MEYER

President Donald Trump’s three wealthiest Cabinet members took in tens of millions of dollars last year, including from divesting holdings to avoid conflicts of interest, according to disclosure filings released by the administration.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her husband took in at least $59.4 million in 2017, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reported income of more than $41.6 million, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross tallied $47 million that year, according to annual financial disclosures each made to their agencies.

A substantial chunk of the trio’s income came from the sale of assets. They also reported bringing in money from dividends, capital gains and interest on accounts, the filings show.

Government officials had until May 15 to file their annual disclosures for 2017, and most officials’ forms were posted online by the Office of Government Ethics earlier this year. The ethics office has yet to formally sign off on and publish the three officials’ disclosures. The departments released them at POLITICO’s request this week.

Critics of the administration have scrutinized DeVos’, Mnuchin’s and Ross’ holdings and were watching to see if they divested assets that could pose conflicts of interest with their current jobs. President Donald Trump has defended hiring wealthy and connected people for powerful positions in his administration, saying they don’t want the jobs for the money and that “these are people that are great, brilliant business minds.”

Mnuchin’s disclosures show that in 2017, he sold holdings in Seritage Growth Properties, which leases stores to Sears and ESL Partners, a hedge fund run by Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert, a longtime friend of the Treasury secretary’s.

With Sears in bankruptcy and its pension at risk, Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee earlier this year asked Mnuchin to recuse himself from matters before the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. involving the company. The Treasury secretary is one of three PBGC board members who will have a say in the future of Sears pensions.

Mnuchin has completed the divestitures required by career ethics officers, a Treasury spokeswoman said. He grossed $2 million to $10 million on his Seritage holdings, according to his filing. Mnuchin received $65,000 to $150,000 on the sale of his interest in ESL Partners.

His June 2017 marriage to Scottish actress Louise Linton brought new assets into the family, including more than $2.2 million in real estate in Edinburgh, Scotland, the disclosures show.

“The secretary submitted his annual financial disclosure on time, and Treasury is working with OGE to have it promptly certified,” the spokeswoman said.

DeVos agreed to divest 102 separate assets when Trump nominated her to be his education secretary. She made three new investments last year, according to her disclosure, including a stake in a Michigan distillery valued at $500,001 to $1 million.

The DeVos disclosure, filed May 14, was amended a dozen times before being certified by Education Department ethics officials on Sept. 19.

Ross faced scrutiny from government ethics officials and watchdog groups for maintaining stakes in a range of companies that had business before his agency. A year ago, he incorrectly reported that he made all the required divestitures. He said this summer that he would sell all of his equity holdings and buy Treasury securities with the proceeds.

Ross pocketed $6.1 million in 2017 for giving up stock options at his former employer, Invesco, and sold stock in the company valued at more than $5 million, the annual disclosure shows. Ross also earned a $970,530 departing bonus.

The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center has asked the Commerce Department’s inspector general to investigate whether Ross violated laws banning false statements and omissions in his earlier financial disclosures.

“Ross’s financial disclosure is probably the most complicated one that has ever existed,” said Delaney Marsco, a Campaign Legal Center ethics lawyer. “For you or me, these financial disclosure documents would give a complete picture of our finances. But for people who are super wealthy, this doesn’t tell us everything we would want to know.”

Some reported holdings are difficult or impossible to decipher. DeVos, Ross and Mnuchin all reported millions of dollars in holdings in limited partnerships and trusts, for example.

In August and September 2017, Mnuchin spent $1.1 million to $5.1 million to acquire an asset called North Park I LLC. A Treasury spokeswoman declined to explain the transactions.

“His filings are so opaque,” said Jeff Hauser, director of the Revolving Door Project at the progressive Center for Economic and Policy Research. “He’s the Treasury secretary, he gets so much market-moving information. This is not a guy who should be investing. He should be divesting everything.”

Democrats won control of the House earlier this month in part by emphasizing public integrity, and they have said they’ll make campaign finance and government ethics a priority in the next Congress. In the Senate, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has introduced legislation that would force high-ranking agency officials to put their money in mutual funds or other conflict-free investments.