In the days before the U.S. carried out the first strikes of the Iran war, a high-ranking Treasury Department official leading the agency’s terrorist financing prevention efforts personally purchased tens of thousands of dollars worth of shares in oil and gas, nuclear energy and cybersecurity funds, according to a new financial disclosure.
The disclosure indicates that Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Jonathan Burke purchased from $15,001 to $50,000 worth of shares in three different exchange-traded funds with narrow investment strategies: the U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF, VanEck Uranium and Nuclear Energy ETF and First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF.
Burke made the purchases on Feb. 20 — eight days before President Donald Trump ordered attacks on Iran.