New evidence suggests that Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross put himself at risk of violating a criminal conflict-of-interest law by discussing business matters with Chevron executives — while his wife apparently owned a stake in the company worth more than $250,000.
On March 22, 2017, Ross hosted Chevron’s then-CEO John Watson, along with two other executives, in his conference room, according to the commerce secretary’s calendar. Forbes first reported the existence of the meeting in July, but both the Department of Commerce and Chevron refused to say what was discussed during the sit-down. After a legal battle that lasted more than six months, however, the government watchdog group American Oversight released a detailed version of Ross’ calendar last week, which shows that the agenda centered on oil and gas developments, tax reform and trade issues.
“It’s profoundly concerning,” said Norman Eisen, who served as Barack Obama’s ethics czar. “I can tell you if someone with this Chevron holding had come to me and asked to have a meeting, as described in that email, I would have said ‘Absolutely not—are you crazy?’”
View the complete October 25 article by Dan Alexander on the Forbes.com website here.