The Environmental Protection Agency’s Douglas Troutman personally invested in a tranche of individual corporate stocks on Feb. 20 that overtly conflict with his role as assistant administrator overseeing the nation’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
There were fossil fuel companies such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. Power plant operators such as Duke Energy and NextEra Energy. Heavy machinery manufacturers and a mining operation, too, according to a federal financial disclosure document obtained by NOTUS.
Troutman had pledged in an ethics agreement he signed in September to “avoid any actual or apparent conflict of interest” and affirmed that it’s his “responsibility to understand and comply with commitments” contained in the agreement.
So what triggered his stock spree?
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A spokesman for Troutman blamed Troutman’s stockbroker for executing the stock trades without the EPA official’s knowledge, which, according to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, occurred during a 401(k) retirement account rollover.
“Once Mr. Troutman became aware that his broker had purchased individual stocks instead of diversified mutual funds, he immediately took decisive corrective action and remained fully compliant with his ethical obligations throughout,” EPA spokesperson Brigit Hirsch told NOTUS.
In a note appended to Troutman’s federal financial disclosure, an Office of Government Ethics official, Justina Fugh, said that Troutman “immediately” consulted with EPA ethics officials and told his broker to sell the stocks. Troutman also worked with EPA ethics officials to “avoid any conflicts of interest” pending the sales and provided “clear direction to the financial advisor about the permissible assets in his account.”
Taken together, the more than 160 individual stocks Troutman owned from Feb. 20 to Feb. 25 were worth between $176,000 and $2.46 million when his stockbroker purchased them, NOTUS’ analysis indicates. (By law, federal officials are only required to disclose the value of their stock trades in broad ranges.)
It’s unclear whether Troutman made money during the time he briefly owned those stocks, which also included shares of major federal government contractors such as Palantir Technologies and Oracle.
Troutman, whom President Donald Trump nominated in July and the Senate confirmed in December, previously served as interim co-CEO, general counsel and senior vice president of the American Cleaning Institute, a cleaning products industry trade association.
Several leading Trump administration officials have engaged in aggressive personal financial trades and business deals of different sorts during Trump’s second term — some more problematic with federal ethics officials than others.
Tilman Fertitta, the U.S. ambassador to Italy and San Marino, recently bought nine figures’ worth of casino and gambling stocks.
Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, had a side hustle peddling Relaxium sleeping pills.
Federal Highway Administration Administrator Sean McMaster invested in a Singaporean transportation company.
Energy Secretary Christopher Wright poured seven figures into an obscure real estate investment vehicle favored by Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
And FBI Director Kash Patel has a taste for Krispy Kreme.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, meanwhile, temporarily retained personal investments that could pose conflicts by obtaining a White House waiver.
Michelle Kuppersmith, executive director for the nonpartisan watchdog organization Campaign for Accountability, said she wasn’t impressed with what she considered Troutman’s explanation for ethically dubious stock buys.
“Mr. Troutman, like all other federal employees, is obliged to follow ethics rules and ensure that anyone investing on his behalf also follows the rules,” Kuppersmith told NOTUS. “Sadly, President Trump has created a culture of corruption, and flouting conflict laws has become routine in his administration.”
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