U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne failed to disclose up to $645k in stock trades, government watchdog says

U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne failed to properly disclose between about $43,000 and $645,000 in stock trades, a nonpartisan government oversight group said Wednesday.

The Campaign Legal Center accused Axne, Iowa's lone Democrat in Washington, D.C., and six other members of Congress of failing to file periodic transaction reports relating to stock trades. Failing to file those public reports within 45 days of the trades violates the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or STOCK, Act.

The nonprofit group is asking the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate. National Public Radio first reported the allegations.

"The lack of accountability we’ve seen in regard to STOCK Act compliance is basically giving elected officials the green light to buy and sell stocks based on information gained from committee meetings without any transparency for their voters," Kedric Payne, general counsel and senior director of ethics at Campaign Legal Center, said in a statement. "Until we see meaningful enforcement paired with real transparency, I see no end to this troubling trend."

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The group pieced together the possible violation by comparing Axne's annual financial disclosures. They found Axne reported owning the stocks in those reports but did not file the corresponding transaction reports. The group found Axne appears to have made more than 40 total stock transactions in 2019 and 2020 that weren't disclosed within the required 45 days, with a total value of between about $43,000 and $645,000.

The group's report said Axne's failure to report the transactions "is unlikely to be merely an oversight" because she was required to attend congressional ethics trainings and because insider trading allegations last year against several U.S. senators meant the topic was in the news.

In a statement, Axne's spokesperson, Ian Mariani, said any errors were "unintentional."

"While Congresswomen Axne completes her own financial disclosures, she does not personally manage or execute transactions related to her retirement account or the ones she has with her husband or her small business," he said in the statement. "In accordance with her legal requirements, she has submitted all required disclosures of her assets through her first three years in Congress. If there are errors with those disclosures, they are unintentional and the Congresswoman will take immediate and all necessary steps to ensure her disclosures are accurate and in accordance with the law."

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Iowa Republicans pounced on the news, pointing out that Axne was a member of the House Financial Services Committee when the trades occurred. Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann said in a news conference Thursday that Axne's explanation is "quite frankly, pretty unbelievable."

"She’s been caught red-handed. She broke federal law," he said. "Her excuse is weak. This is purposeful. Look, she sits on the Financial Services Committee. You do not conduct 40 transactions with total amounts possibly up to well over half a million and have that not be purposeful."

The other members accused by the Campaign Legal Center of violating the STOCK Act are U.S. Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio; Lance Gooden, R-Texas; Bobby Scott, D-Virginia; Tom Suozzi, D-New York; Roger Williams, R-Texas; and Del. Michael San Nicolas, D-Guam.

The Center also previously accused Iowa Values, an independent political group supporting U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, of violating campaign finance law in 2019. The Center filed a lawsuit over it in February after federal regulators failed to act on their complaint for more than a year.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

Nick Coltrain is a politics and data reporter for the Register. Reach him at ncoltrain@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8361.