Rep. Donna Shalala on Wednesday apologized for failing to report more than a half-dozen stock sales last year after her election to the House.
The Florida Democrat said she sold the stocks to avoid any conflict of interest, but missed the deadlines for reporting the transactions.
“I’m a strong supporter of the STOCK Act,” Shalala told CBS Miami, referring to the 2012 law that prohibits members of Congress from trading stocks based on information obtained during their official positions. “I missed those deadlines, but it wasn’t as if I — I was doing the opposite of insider trading. I was getting rid of any conflict of interest in the process, but I absolutely missed those deadlines, and I apologize for them. It was my mistake, and I take full responsibility.”
When pressed further on how she missed the deadlines, Shalala, the House Democrat on the committee overseeing $500 billion in taxpayer money being used to help shore up businesses affected by coronavirus, emphasized that she understands the law.
“I missed the deadlines, and I have to take responsibility — personal responsibility for doing that. No one else is responsible except for me, and now I can file all of that,” said Shalala, a former health secretary in the Clinton administration. “But it’s not — I did file my disclosure reports, so everybody knew what my holdings were.”
The Miami Herald reports that Shalala is setting up a blind trust for her assets.
Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) have come under fire recently for stock trades made during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.