President-Elect Trump sold all his shares in companies in June, his spokesman said Tuesday, a move that could created a cash windfall as he started to begin his costly General Election Presidential Campaign that at the time he claimed he would personally support with major contributions.
The sell-off could help address conflict-of-interest worries about his stock portfolio, a sizable part of Trump’s financial life that was worth roughly as much as $40 million as of December 2015, a May disclosure filing shows. Trump’s stock portfolio, the May filing shows, included shares in a number of banks, oil giants, and other companies with business pending before the U.S. Government and whose value could rise due to Trump’s decisions in office.
Those stock holdings, ethics advisers said, offered a potentially troublesome facet of Trump’s private finances that could entangle his public decision-making. Beyond comments to The Post, Trump representatives have not provided records of stock transactions or other details since the May filing.
Trump spokesman Jason Miller, who told The Post about Trump’s stock sale Tuesday morning, did not immediately answer why Trump had sold the shares or how much he sold them for. Trump will not be required by law to file another personal financial disclosure until May 2018.
But the June stock sale would have coincided with a point when Trump was pouring money into his Presidential campaign. During the Republican Primary, Trump loaned his campaign $47 million of his own money. In June, as the General Election began, he formally forgave the loan and began making cash infusions to his campaign, first donating $2 million on June 22nd.
Trump then gave $2 million a month between July and August before donating $10 million in October. Much of Trump’s Campaign was ultimately funded by other donors. In all, Trump gave his campaign $66 million, Federal filings show, short of the $100 million that he repeatedly claimed he was spending on his race.
Trump has tweeted that he will separate from his own business, the Trump Organization, but has provided no additional details other than promising to hold a press event on Dec. 15th to outline his plans.
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told The Post last month that Trump had in June also sold his shares in Energy Transfer Partners, the majority stakeholder in the $3.7 billion Dakota Access pipeline project that has drawn protests from environmentalists and Native Americans.
Norm Eisen, who served as Ethics Counselor to President Obama and has criticized Trump over his conflicts, said it would be “absolutely a step in the right direction” if Trump had sold his stock holdings in June, divesting himself of ownership in companies whose fates could be tied to his policies. But he added that it is now important to know how Trump spent the money he earned from the sale. “We need to know, has he put them in conflict free assets ... or has he bought other stocks or assets that would create new conflicts?” he asked. “It’s all the more reason that we need a prompt and full financial disclosure. If he did liquidate all his stocks, what did he do with the money? What bank is the money in? What did he buy? It’s a lot of money.”
Or was this the money he put into his Campaign?
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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