WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today urged the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate potential conflicts of interest posed by offshore investments currently held by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Recently disclosed documents revealed Ross’ investments in a shipping firm that has significant business ties to Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law, as well as a Russian oligarch currently under sanctions by the U.S. While Ross sold off many other holdings to join the Trump Administration, he retained his investment in the shipping firm, called Navigator Holdings.

“As a cabinet official, Secretary Ross has a broad policy role in economic, trade, and other national security matters that impact foreign governments,” Booker and Blumenthal said in the letter to the Comptroller General of the GAO. “Given this important role, Secretary Ross’s actions have the potential to affect his offshore investments when those entities have commercial partners with ties to foreign governments.”

“To resolve any outstanding conflicts of interest, it is critical that the public have a better understanding of the offshore investments currently held by Secretary Ross, including an accounting of any commercial partners with ties to foreign governments.”

Earlier this year, Booker sent a series of questions to Secretary Ross about his financial investments and his banking ties to Russia. Ross has yet to respond.

The full text of the letter is below.

November 14, 2017

The Honorable Gene L. Dodaro

Comptroller General of the United States

United States Government Accountability Office

Dear Mr. Dodaro:

As members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, we are writing to request that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigate potential conflicts of interest posed by offshore investments currently held by Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

Documents disclosed as part of the so-called Paradise Papers, a leak of files from offshore service providers and the company registries of some of the world’s most secretive countries, identified the use of offshore investment entities by several Trump Administration officials, including the White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.[1] In particular, the documents confirm that Secretary Ross has made extensive use of offshore investments, including several Cayman Islands-based entities he retained as part of his ethics agreement before joining the Department of Commerce.[2]

In this ethics agreement, Secretary Ross committed that he would “remain vigilant” in identifying matters affecting his investments and would not participate without a written waiver in actions that he knew had an effect on the financial interests of the entities he retained.[3] In his financial disclosures, Secretary Ross also identified that one of his investments held a stake in Navigator Holdings, an international shipping company that operates one of the world’s largest fleets of liquefied natural gas vessels.[4] While consistent with formal requirements, Secretary Ross’s disclosures did not include details regarding Navigator Holding’s commercial partners, including whether any of those partners had ties to foreign governments.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings and public reporting have highlighted that Navigator Holdings has substantial business ties to a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the U.S. and President Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law through the Russian energy company Sibur.[5] Over 60 percent of Sibur is owned by two Russian individuals currently under U.S. sanctions, and the company is engaged in multiple joint ventures with Gazprom, a major Russian energy company owned and controlled by the Russian government.[6]

As a cabinet official, Secretary Ross has a broad policy role in economic, trade, and other national security matters that impact foreign governments. Given this important role, Secretary Ross’s actions have the potential to affect his offshore investments when those entities have commercial partners with ties to foreign governments.

Additionally, current guidance by the Office of Government Ethics or the practices of agency ethics officials may not provide enough transparency to evaluate potential conflicts of interest facing officials like Secretary Ross. More complete information may be necessary in order for the Senate to properly evaluate the suitability of nominees who are subject to Senate confirmation yet who retain offshore investments.

To resolve any outstanding conflicts of interest, it is critical that the public have a better understanding of the offshore investments currently held by Secretary Ross, including an accounting of any commercial partners with ties to foreign governments. Accordingly, we ask that you investigate:

1) The Department of Commerce and Office of Government Ethics review and certification of Secretary Ross’s financial disclosure statement and ethics agreement, including the sufficiency of any documents provided by Secretary Ross to the Department for any conflict of interest analysis.

2) The formation, corporate structure, and partnership agreements for any offshore investment entities retained by Secretary Ross as part of his ethics agreement.

3) The commercial ties these entities have or have had with foreign governments, sanctioned persons or entities, or politically exposed persons, that may create a conflict of interest for Secretary Ross.

4) The relevant statutes and regulations regarding the financial disclosure requirements for executive branch officials related to offshore investment entities, including whether current statutes and regulations are sufficient to evaluate potential conflicts of interest.

Thank you for your assistance with this matter.

                                              

Sincerely,

                                              

Cory A. Booker                                                                   Richard Blumenthal

United States Senator                                                        United States Senator

cc:     Johana R. Ayers

Managing Director, Forensic Audits and Investigative Service

Government Accountability Office

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[1] Martha Hamilton and Sasha Chavkin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Benefits from Business Ties to Putin’s Inner Circle, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Nov. 5, 2017, https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/donald-trumps-commerce-secretary-wilbur-ross-and-his-russian-business-ties/.

[2] Wilbur Ross, Ethics agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce (Jan. 15, 2017): WLR Recovery Associates IV DSS AIV, GP; WLR Recovery Associates IV DSS AIV, LP; WLR Recovery Associates V DSS AIV, GP and WLR Recovery Associates V DSS AIV, LP.

[3] Id.

[4] Wilbur Ross, Public Financial Disclosure Report, U.S. Office of Government Ethics (Jan. 15, 2017).

[5] Mike McIntire, Sasha Chavkin, and Martha M. Hamilton, Commerce Secretary’s Offshore Ties to Putin ‘Cronies’, The New York Times, Nov. 5, 2017, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/05/world/wilbur-ross-russia.html?_r=0.

[6] Id.