Source: The Center of Public Integrity
Impact
March 23, 2017: In the story “Wilbur Ross will shepherd Trump’s trade policy. Should he also own a shipping firm?” we asked whether Ross’ role as Commerce Secretary should preclude him from owning a stake in the Diamond S Shipping Group, one of whose main customers also had a stake in a Russian national oil company under US sanctions. Richard W. Painter, who was a top ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, stated in the article: “That shipping company is going to be a big problem with respect to him being involved with trade under the conflict of interest statute.”
November 5, 2017: Paradise Papers, published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its media partners around the globe, revealed the ties between Ross and another shipping company, Navigator Holdings, which has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law and two Russian oligarchs.
November 7, 2017: Today, in response to questions from the Center for Public Integrity, Secretary Ross’ spokesman revealed that Secretary Ross “has fully divested his interest in Diamond S. Shipping” and the ICIJ reported that Ross would also likely not keep his stake in Navigator Holdings.
