Pence Aide Owns Stock In COVID Response Companies

NPR reports:

Marc Short, the chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, owns between $506,043 and $1.64 million worth of individual stocks in companies doing work related to the Trump administration’s pandemic response — holdings that could run afoul of conflict of interest laws. Many of the medical, pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies – including 3M, Abbott Laboratories, Gilead Sciences, Procter & Gamble, Medtronic, Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson – in which Short and his wife hold stock have been directly affected by or involved in the work of the task force chaired by Pence.

On at least two occasions, Vice President Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short has publicly mentioned, on camera, companies in which he holds substantial amounts of stockhttps://t.co/YroWK2hcAr

— Tim Mak (@timkmak) May 28, 2020

The law requires executive branch employees to resolve conflicts of interest before participating in any decision — or even deliberations — affecting particular companies or specific industries in which they are invested.

Violations carry potential civil and criminal penalties.

— Tim Mak (@timkmak) May 28, 2020

On March 18, Marc Short mentioned the Vice President’s trip to a 3M manufacturing plant to illustrate a point about liability protections.

Records show that he holds between $65,002 and $150,000 worth of 3M stockhttps://t.co/YroWK2hcAr

— Tim Mak (@timkmak) May 28, 2020