U.S. Rep. John James at a press conference on the Rochester Hills shooting, June 15, 2024 | Anna Liz Nichols
End Citizens United, a left-leaning advocacy group, has filed an ethics complaint against U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Twp.), alleging James violated the STOCK Act, by failing to properly disclose 145 stock trades and failing to file his annual financial disclosure on time.
The complaint submitted to the U.S. House Office of Congressional Ethics requests the office “immediately opens a preliminary review to investigate Rep. James’ apparent failure to file timely periodic transaction reports and his annual financial disclosure statement and take all necessary steps to seek appropriate penalties and corrective action.”
It notes that the Stock ACT requires Members of Congress to disclose certain securities transactions made by themselves, their spouse, or their dependent children that exceed $1,000 on periodic transaction reports, and requires the reports to be filed “not later than 30 days after receiving notification of any transaction… but in no case later than 45 days after such transaction.”
By law, anyone who files their financial disclosures more than 30 days after the due date must pay a $200 late filing fee, according to the clerk of the House of Representatives.
On Sept. 2, 2024, James filed a report which included transactions dating back to Nov. 10, 2023, with the complaint noting that some of the transactions are as many as 252 days late.
The complaint also notes James filed his annual financial disclosure for 2023 late after receiving an extension to Aug. 13, 2024, with James filing the disclosure on Sept. 3, 2024.
“Whether this decision was intentional or not, Rep. James again left the public in the dark about his finances for weeks beyond the statutory deadline,” the complaint reads.
“Rep. James kept the public in the dark on millions of dollars of stock trades and his own personal finances and must be held accountable,” End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller said in a statement. “His blatant disregard for the law, which he is clearly well aware of, is unacceptable and shows he cannot be trusted.”
James previously told the Detroit News he was unaware of the 145 trades, saying they took place under a financial trust that functions as a blind trust, in which beneficiaries have no knowledge of the trust’s holdings and cannot intervene in their handling.
James also wrote a letter to the U.S. House Clerk’s office saying there had been no impropriety and no impropriety had occurred, and that he was taking aggressive action to ensure these errors did not occur in the future, according to the Detroit News. He also wrote that he had filed his 2023 financial disclosure late due to “prioritizing integrity and transparency above haste in correcting these newly uncovered errors.”
Should End Citizen United’s request be granted, the Office of Congressional Ethics will conduct its investigation and, if appropriate, refer the matter to the House Ethics committee for further review.