Evidence Suggests Rep. Welch Ignored House Ethics Rules and Federal Law
The non-partisan ethics watchdog, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), has filed a complaint requesting the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) investigate Congressman Peter Welch of Vermont for failing to disclose financial transactions as required by law.
Federal law and House Ethics rules require Members to provide “full and complete” financial information to the public, including a member’s assets, debts, income, and periodic reports of financial transactions that exceed $1,000 within 30 to 45 days of the transaction.
Recent reporting shows that Rep. Welch failed to disclose that his wife sold $6,238 in ExxonMobil stock on September 17, 2021, by the November 1, 2021, deadline. Although Rep. Welch’s spokesperson admitted that he had learned of the trade on October 25, 2021, he grilled ExxonMobil’s CEO in a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on October 28, 2021, and didn’t disclose the transaction until November 9, 2021, eight days after he was required to.
“Rep. Welch has been a member of Congress for nearly 15 years and is well aware of the financial reporting requirements. What makes this case egregious, beyond the violation itself, is that his office acknowledged that he knew of the transaction prior to the reporting deadline and not only missed it, but grilled the ExxonMobil CEO about transparency and credibility just days later. The OCE must fully investigate this violation and apply the requisite penalties,” said Kendra Arnold, Executive Director of FACT.
A full copy of the complaint can be found by clicking here.
FACT is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting accountability, ethics, and transparency in government and civic arenas. For more on FACT, visit: http://www.factdc.org/
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