Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) appears to have violated a federal conflict-of-interest law, known as the STOCK Act of 2012, by waiting almost a year to disclose a stock trade, according to Business Insider.
Gonzalez reportedly sold between $1,000 and $15,000 in stock of Freeport-McMoRan on July 24, 2021, but waited to report it until June 27 of this year. Lawmakers must submit a periodic transaction report with the clerk in the House of Representatives within 30 to 45 days of stock transactions over $1,000 made on behalf of themselves or their spouses under the STOCK Act.
Freeport-McMoRan is a Phoenix-based mining company that operates seven open-pit copper mines in the United States and has other mining operations in Chile, Peru, and Indonesia. Curiously, in recent months Gonzalez has made mining issues a priority.
In April, he introduced the “Rare Act,” which aimed to develop “a reliable domestic supply of critical minerals, rare earth elements and to uncouple our supply lines and dependence on China for national security manufacturing raw materials.” In May, months after he sold his stock and months before he filed his most recent financial disclosure, he introduced legislation banning uranium imports from Russia.
“The U.S. has the resources and capacity to produce uranium here at home and should no longer rely on foreign dictators,” Gonzalez stated in a press release. “I urge our colleagues to support this legislation, stand in solidarity with Ukraine and unleash American energy!”
“Texans are struggling to get by, but Vicente Gonzalez sure isn’t as he pockets big checks, breaks federal conflict of interest laws, and tries to hide it from voters,” Congressional Leadership Fund Press Secretary Cally Perkins hammered in a statement. “Vicente is only ever looking out for himself, but Texans deserve a Congressman that will put them first.”