Trump-appointed official resigns early after 'ethically questionable' COVID transactions of up to $5 million
11 January 2022
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A top Federal Reserve official is retiring early after scrutiny over COVID-timed trades of between $1 million and $5 million, made just one day before a February 2020 statement on the coronavirus pandemic by Chairman Jerome Powell.
Vice Chair Richard Clarida was appointed to the Federal Reserve position in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump.
In October of 2021 U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren called the transactions "ethically questionable" and demanded an investigation.
The New York Times reported last week "that Mr. Clarida had corrected his 2020 financial disclosures in late December in a way that ethics professionals said raised questions about one of his trades."
"The transaction drew an outcry from lawmakers and watchdog groups because it put Mr. Clarida in a position to benefit as the Fed restored market confidence," The Times noted. "Mr. Clarida’s recently amended financial disclosure showed that the vice chair sold that same stock fund on Feb. 24, at a moment when financial markets were plunging amid fears of the virus."
Clarida is just one of countless Trump administration officials who have been credibly accused of ethically questionable actions. The scope is so vast there is no single list of all the known ethics scandals committed by the former president and members of his administration or others appointed by the 45th president.