U.S. Rep Chellie Pingree revealed this week that she failed to properly disclose a purchase of U.S. Treasury securities in violation of federal law, according to a federal financial document reviewed and reported by the Portland Press Herald.
According to the document, Pingree, a Democrat representing Maine’s 1st District, bought six Treasury securities collectively worth a total of $90,000 to $300,000 but did not disclose the purchases until this week, almost three months after the deadline in the 2012 Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act.
The STOCK Act, as it is known, set disclosure requirements for members of Congress, their staff and family members on trading stocks.
On Friday in a statement to the Bangor Daily News, Pingree noted that her trades were in treasury bonds, not stocks, and said the late report was “a result of a paperwork error.”
“Once I discovered this issue, I rectified it immediately and filed the necessary paperwork and paid the late fee,” she said.
The violation is notable as Pingree has supported legislation, including co-sponsoring the TRUST in Congress Act, that seeks transparency around investment trading by members of Congress.
Asked where she stands on such bills, Pingree said: “I have supported bills to ban and limit member[s] of Congress from trading stocks in the past and will again during this Congress.”
BDN writer Billy Kobin contributed reporting.