Watchdog group says Reps. Lance Gooden and Roger Williams failed to disclose stock trades

WASHINGTON — The Campaign Legal Center, a government watchdog group, filed ethics complaints Wednesday accusing two Texas congressmen of failing to disclose stock trades in violation of a law meant to bar lawmakers from profiting off non-public information.

Rep. Lance Gooden of Terrell bought shares in a dozen companies in 2020 worth $60,019 to $376,000, according to his annual financial statement, mostly in sectors hit hard by the pandemic such as airlines and oil producers.

Annual reports from Rep. Roger Williams of Austin, also a Republican, showed that his wife had sold stock last year valued at $3,003 to $45,000.

Since 2012, members of Congress have been required to report within 45 days any transaction topping $1,000. Neither Williams nor Gooden filed any such report.

Gooden said that all of his transactions fell short of the threshold, so he had no obligation to file.

“Contrary to this George Soros-funded group’s frivolous complaint, I have committed zero violations of the STOCK Act and this complaint is dead on arrival,” he said through an aide, referring to the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act.

The Campaign Legal Center filed similar complaints against seven House members in all — four Democrats and one other Republican beside the Texans — with the Office of Government Ethics.

The group asserted that each “conducted significant stock trading activity that has not been disclosed at all,” warning that minimal fines have not deterred a “widespread, systemic issue in Congress that crosses ideological and geographic lines.”

In the complaints, the Campaign Legal Center concedes it has no way of knowing whether the $1,000 threshold was ever crossed but notes that five of its seven targets, including both Texans, serve on the Financial Services Committee, and all receive mandatory ethics training.

Gooden’s annual financial report, filed Aug. 13, shows investments up to $30,000 each in American Airlines and Delta, $15,000 each in United, Hertz and Royal Caribbean Cruises, and $65,000 in Sotherly Hotels.

In the energy sector, he bought up to $65,000 in Ovintiv Inc., a Canadian gas producer, $30,000 in Marathon Oil and $15,000 in Occidental Petroleum.

But those are all maximums.

Congressional disclosure forms require reporting in broad ranges, striking a balance between transparency and privacy that makes it impossible to know the precise size of a lawmaker’s portfolio.

So in Gooden’s case, he might own as little as $2,002 worth of American stock.

Williams’ office did not respond to a request for explanation of his wife’s sale of stock in General Electric, Nvidia and Walt Disney during 2020.

“Based on publicly available information, it is unclear whether Rep. Williams’s failure to file was an attempt to avoid scrutiny of trades,” the complaint against him reads.

“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,” said Kedric Payne, general counsel and senior director of ethics at Campaign Legal Center. “Until we see meaningful enforcement paired with real transparency, I see no end to this troubling trend.”

Gooden was elected in 2018. Williams was elected in 2012.