Top Biden Admin Admits Lying Under Oath
In a stunning admission, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm admitted to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that she had falsely testified under oath that she had sold all of her individual stocks in 2021.
In a letter sent to Senate committee leadership Friday, Granholm acknowledged she had actually maintained shares of six companies. The admission is a move to ensure her testimony is consistent with her financial holdings.
"As you know, as part of the confirmation process before this Committee, in 2021 I divested from assets that could be in conflict with my official duties," Granholm wrote in the letter obtained by Fox News Digital. "I did, however, retain assets that were determined by Government ethics officials to not conflict with my official duties."
"I mistakenly told the Committee that I did not own any individual stocks, whereas I should have said that I did not own any conflicting stocks. In order to make my financial holdings consistent with my testimony, on May 18, 2023, I divested my remaining stock holdings which consisted of stock in six companies, even though these assets were deemed non-conflicting," she continued.
Granholm did not name the six companies in which she owned stocks but promised to share that information in her Annual Public Financial Disclosure Report in mid-June. Additionally, she revealed that her husband Daniel Mulhern owned $2,457.89 in shares of Ford Motor Company. She said she had mistakenly believed that their divestiture of Ford was complete in 2021.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member John Barrasso, R-Wyo., was quick to criticize Granholm.
"Secretary Granholm lied to the committee about her family’s stock holdings," Barrasso said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "This comes after her failure to follow basic ethics and disclosure rules. This is a troubling pattern. It is unacceptable."
In response, an Energy Department spokesperson said Granholm remained committed to "the highest ethical standards."
"The Secretary takes the commitment to uphold the highest ethical standards very seriously, which is why, upon realizing a comment made in error, the Secretary moved quickly to divest non-conflicting assets along with an asset held by her spouse of which she was previously unaware," the spokesperson said.
Granholm said all of the transactions listed in the letter would be disclosed on a Public Financial Disclosure Periodic Transaction Report in July. She also promised to provide full disclosure of her financial holdings.