On Tuesday, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) obliterated far-left Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm over lying about owning individual stocks and proclaimed her the face of “institutionalized corruption” at the department.
As the New York Post notes, Granholm last year admitted to delivering false testimony to the panel last April by claiming she didn’t own any individual stock.
Granholm, the former Democratic governor of Michigan, laughably claimed during the hearing she made a “mistake” and had no clue she owned several stocks when she took over as Energy Secretary. In other words, she said she did not know her own stock portfolio.
Granholm then claimed she informed the committee as soon as she realized her testimony was false. But Hawley was having none of her nonsense. He introduced a board with a timeline showing Granholm quietly sold her individual stocks and then waited nearly a month before writing to the committee.
Hawley continued to pepper her with questions that left her flustered and stammering, including one about stocks in at least six companies that she offloaded in May 2023. He also pounded her questions regarding the foreign billionaires funding the Energy Department conferences and whether she was actually running the department. This just made her more flustered and angry.
As one will see, the destruction was so through that not even Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) could save Granholm.
WATCH:
MUST WATCH: Sen. @HawleyMO blasts a flustered Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm over failing to disclose owning conflicting stocks. pic.twitter.com/Md0JVc8LNJ
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) April 16, 2024
Relevant transcript:
Hawley: When you were here last, I talked with you about the fact that more than 130 officials in the Energy Department reported more than 2,700 trades of shares, bonds, and options, and companies that ethics officers said were directly related to the agency’s work. This is institutionalized corruption, and I asked you point blank if you own any individual stock, and you told me no.
It turns out that was false. You owned multiple individual stocks, and you neglected to report them to this committee for months afterward. Why did you mislead this committee?
Granholm: I believed that I had sold all individual stocks, and I was incorrect, so I came back…
Hawley: You just don’t know your portfolio?
Granholm: Um, pretty much.
Hawley: It’s a big one I guess, huh?
Granholm (chuckling nervously) No, it’s extremely small, um…
Hawley: Apparently not, for someone manages it for you?
Granholm: So I came back as soon as I found out that, in fact, I had not sold all individuals…
Hawley: That’s not true either. Let’s just look at the timeline. You testified you didn’t own any individual stocks, you didn’t sell the stocks for another month, and after you sold the stocks, you waited another month before you informed this committee.
Why did you mislead us, and what were you hiding?
Granholm: I did not hide it because I brought it forth to the committee when I realized that we had made a mistake…
Hawley: Really? What explains the delay? Why did you wait for a full month to explain your actions to this committee?
Granholm (hesitates a bit): Uh, that’s less than a month and I sent a letter explaining what had happened because I owned a Ford stock that was…
Hawley: You misled this committee. What were the stocks that you owned?
Granholm: It was a Ford stock that my husband had owned since he was very young, and uh, I was just not aware of it.
Hawley: And what were the others? You sold six stocks what were the other five?
Granholm (stammering): Uh, I sold, uh, non-conflicting stocks.
Hawley: What were they?
Granholm (hesitates and stammers again): I don’t, I don’t honestly (pauses briefly). I don’t even know….I do know the Ford one because that was a conflict that’s why I ran…
Hawley: You’re here before this committee a year later after actively misleading us after denying and delaying, and now you won’t tell us?
You sat on the board of directors at Protera. You made millions. And then you promoted Protera stock and Protera products as Energy Secretary. Was that one of the stocks that you sold?
Granholm (flustered): No! No!
Hawley: Really? You are presiding over institutionalized corruption in your energy department. You have violated the Stock Act nine separate times. You have been referred by the Inspector General for violations of the Hatch Act.
It is institutionalized corruption that you are now the face of! I just want to know who really runs the Energy Department. Is it you, or is it the mega-corporations whose stock that you own that you’re making profits?
Granholm (flustered): Oh my goodness!
Hawley: Or maybe it’s the foreign billionaires who fund your conferences. Do you know the names of the foreign billionaires who fund the conferences you go to since you don’t know the stocks? Would you happen to know the names of the foreign billionaires?
Granholm (angry): I don’t know what you’re talking about!
Hawley: You don’t know the stocks, you don’t know the billionaires, you take no responsibility. Meanwhile, executives in your Energy Department are trading stocks in companies that they have direct oversight over.
(Manchin later interrupts and tries to run interference for Granholm)
Hawley: Madam Secretary, all I have to say is this record is just deplorable. It is outrageous that hundreds of officers in the Energy Department are trading shares. It is outrageous that you misled us…This has got to change, and frankly, you should go.
