Ethics expert slams Rand Paul's 'troubling' failure to disclose his wife's COVID stock purchase on time
On CNN Thursday, former Office of Government Ethics director Walter Shaub criticized Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) following reports that he disclosed his wife's purchase of stock in a company that makes a broad-spectrum antibiotic used to treat COVID-19 about 16 months late.
"This is very troubling," said Shaub, who resigned from the government amid clashes with former President Donald Trump. "On the one hand, it's not a very large purchase relative to Rand Paul's wealth, but this is a purchase of stocks that are potentially affected by the pandemic. And as a senator, he was receiving briefings on the magnitude of the pandemic at a time when the public was in the dark about it."
"A law was passed in 2012 called the STOCK Act that required these disclosures within 30 to 45 days of a transaction, precisely for the reason of enabling the public to monitor for insider trading," Shaub explained. "The fact that he didn't disclose it, and the investigations of other senators for possible insider trading related to COVID didn't trigger him to disclose it, is very troubling."
"If we can put up the statement from a spokesman for Rand Paul, he makes the point that Rand Paul's wife lost money on this investment," said anchor Brianna Keilar. "And also tries to explain, it seems like a mistake on the part of the senator, his staff in getting this filed. Does it matter, Walter, that she didn't make money on this?"
"No, it doesn't matter at all, because he couldn't know at the time that she made the purchase that it wouldn't make money," said Shaub. "And as for the error, that's clearly on him because they have an electronic filing system. If he signed the thing, it would have been submitted, but he must not have signed it."
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