CREW requests records on Mnuchin ethics advice on Stormchaser

The Office of Government Ethics declined to certify Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s financial disclosure report  because he kept an interest in Stormchaser Partners that he was supposed to divest.

OGE director Emory Rounds noted in a letter to Congress that Mnuchin initially agreed to divest this interest by selling it to his then-finacée after seeking advice from Treasury’s Designated Agency Ethics Official. The official advised Secretary Mnuchin he could retain his imputed interest in Stormchaser  “because the asset did not create a potential for a conflict of interest.” Treasury did not tell OGE, so Secretary Mnuchin was able to reacquire an interest in Stormchaser without prior OGE approval.

CREW requested any ethics advice that Mnuchin got from ethics officials at Treasury, as well as his communications about Stormchaser. The requested records will shed further light on whether Secretary Mnuchin’s actions are consistent with the ethics advice he received and may help explain why Treasury failed to advise OGE of this advice. If Mnuchin skirted ethics rules, the public should know.