Trump's nominee for HHS raises conflict of interest concerns

The US Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should look more closely at the stock trading activity of US Representatives Tom Price (Republican, Georgia.) and Chris Collins (Republican, New York) for conflicts of interest and possible insider trading, consumer advocacy Public Citizen said in a letter yesterday.

Rep Price is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for director of the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Extensive stock trading activity in industries that Price and Collins oversee as congressmen, and unusually good timing and financial benefits of those stock trades, raise red flags about the potential use of insider information,” said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, adding: “The public information available falls short of hard evidence of insider trading, but the patterns of trading activity certainly warrant further investigation to determine if it occurred.”