Disclosures for Utah members of Congress show stocks, property, gold
Ariann Figueroa, Jacob Fischler, Ashley Murray and Jennifer Shutt
WASHINGTON — Utah’s congressional delegation went through some shakeups in the 118th Congress, with a prominent U.S. senator announcing his retirement and a special election last November to replace a U.S. House member.
That special election changed the makeup of the all-male delegation. Now, Rep. Celeste Maloy is the fifth woman in history to represent the Beehive State in the nation’s capital.
And the decision by former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to bypass another Senate term is already producing a competitive GOP primary.
But some elements of Utah’s six-member congressional delegation remain the same: It’s made up of all Republicans, and those lawmakers — like most members of Congress — have troves of stocks and various assets they are required to report on federal financial disclosure forms.
It is legal for lawmakers to hold stocks in individual companies, though congressional ethics rules require disclosure of all assets of more than $1,000.
A States Newsroom review of the Utah congressional delegation’s latest annual reports due in May 2023 found blind trusts, corporate stocks, rental properties and book deals, among other assets. These reports reflect activities in the 2022 calendar year, except for Utah’s newest lawmaker, Maloy.
Mitt Romney
Romney’s report shows the former finance executive is among the wealthiest members of the U.S. Senate.
He reported owning alone or jointly with his wife, Ann, assets worth between $64 million and $315 million.
That range does not include assets owned and independently held by Ann, which are even harder to quantify because reporting requirements are laxer for senators’ spouses. The report showed 20 assets independently held by Ann Romney that listed no upper limit, saying in the value field only that each is worth over $1 million and “held independently by spouse or dependent child.”
Ann Romney’s solo portfolio, which is mostly composed of mutual funds and private equity funds, is worth a minimum of $24 million.
Despite their vast wealth, the Romneys report owning virtually no individual stocks. It’s common for members of Congress to own stocks in individual companies, but the practice has raised concerns from ethics watchdogs who say it creates a conflict of interest.
The sole corporate stock in the report was an investment in Ann’s name of $1,000 or less in Sankaty Advisors, Inc., a credit affiliate of Bain Capital, Mitt Romney’s former longtime employer.
While most listed assets are traditional financial holdings such as mutual funds, private equity investments or bank deposits, Mitt Romney also listed between $250,000 and $500,000 worth of gold bullion.
The Romneys recorded 175 reportable transactions in 2022. The sales and purchases of various bonds and funds were worth millions of dollars.
Romney’s disclosure also sheds light on some of his personal interests.
Romney is a trustee for a trust that owns an “extended family vacation property.” Romney has five sons and numerous grandchildren.
He is the manager of Delaware-based limited liability corporations that hold investments for his children and grandchildren.
He is a trustee for the nonprofit Romney Foundation for Children, an advisory board member for the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, an advisory board convener for the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah and a director of the Washington-based International Republican Institute.
Spokespeople for Romney declined to comment.
Mike Lee
Republican Sen. Mike Lee reported earning more than $68,000 from Hachette Book Group and an additional $2,000 for teaching at Duke University in North Carolina, in his latest annual report from May 2023.
Lee, who was first elected to the Senate in 2010, reported holding between $115,000 and $300,000 in mutual funds with his spouse, though he didn’t report buying or selling individual stocks.
That process has come under scrutiny in recent years, as some members of Congress have called for an outright ban on lawmakers being able to buy and sell individual stocks.
Lee didn’t report any travel that he, his spouse, or any dependent children took that would be subject to reporting requirements for the most recent annual report.
Senators are required to report travel expenses if they are “reimbursed for more than one trip from the same sponsor, and the trips added together are worth more than $350 … even if the reimbursement for each separate trip does not equal more than $350.”
Lee also didn’t report receiving any gifts.
He did report having outside publishing agreements with Regnery Books/Eagle Publishing based in Washington, D.C.; Simon & Schuster, Inc. based in New York City; Sentinel Books/Penguin Group USA based in New York City; and Hachette Book Group in Franklin, Tennessee.
Lee also reported an agreement from 2010 from his former employer, Howrey LLP in Salt Lake City.
The report says that “pursuant to partnership and severance agreements, Howrey LLP to pay remaining partner salary due from 2010. (Note: no payments received to date).”
House members
Rep. Blake Moore, who took office in 2021 and represents the 1st District, reported on his latest disclosure that one of his assets is an ownership interest — meaning it’s an asset in a trade or business — for a hospital in Mexico called Médica Santa Carmen, where his portion is valued anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000.
Moore has also put many of his assets that are stock in what’s known as a “blind trust.” This means that a lawmaker would be separated from those day-to-day decisions by giving an independent trustee sole responsibility to manage those assets.
In that blind trust, Moore has corporate stock in companies such as Apple, Amazon, Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, Walt Disney Company and Microsoft Corporation, among others. The amount is unknown because it’s in a blind trust.
Moore also has an asset of as much as $100,000 in real estate.
His spouse is listed as having $2 million in commercial investments.
In his disclosure, Moore listed a rental property in Salt Lake County that is valued at most at $500,000, and the income from that property anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000.
Moore did not report receiving any gifts, and had one trip disclosed, a visit to Tel Aviv, Israel sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation.
Rep. Chris Stewart, a six-term lawmaker who represented the 2nd District, resigned last September due to his wife’s illness. His most recent filing included royalties from books he’s written, totaling from a range of $100,000 to $1 million. Stewart, a U.S. Air Force veteran, has written multiple military techno-thrillers.
Because Maloy, who was a former congressional staffer for Stewart, was elected in a special election, her financial disclosure is for the filing year 2023. The only asset she has listed is a mutual fund totaling anywhere from $1,000 to $15,000.
Rep. John Curtis, who represents the 3rd District covering the eastern part of the state and is running for the seat Romney is vacating, reported assets worth between $8 million and $30 million.
His diverse portfolio includes several real estate properties, business interests and investment funds.
He lists four holdings worth more than $1 million: real estate in Provo called Action Opportunity Fund, a residential property in North Ogden and ownership interests in real estate investment firms Peg Opportunity Zone and Sundance Debt Partners.
Curtis also listed a $500,000 to $1 million ownership stake in a company called ATI Founders Inc., which the report says is related to shooting range equipment.
He also listed ownership stakes in four Quick Quack Car Wash locations in Utah and two in South Texas.
In a joint investment account with his spouse, Curtis owned dozens of individual corporate stocks in regulated industries including technology, energy and financial services. All listed stocks, including companies such as Apple, Chevron and UnitedHealth, were worth less than $50,000 and most were less than $15,000.
Curtis recently sold the bulk of his stock holdings because “it’s been a source of questions during his time in Congress,” spokesman Corey Norman told States Newsroom.
The most recent personal financial disclosure report covers calendar year 2022, but a Dec. 12, 2023, periodic transaction report showed Curtis sold off almost all the corporate stocks in his portfolio that day.
Curtis listed five trips that were paid for by outside groups in 2022.
Among them was a trip to the United Nations climate conference that November in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, funded by the Conservative Climate Foundation, a nonprofit group that supports members of the Conservative Climate Caucus that Curtis founded and leads in the U.S. House.
He also received trips to Iceland from the Aspen Institute think tank and to Japan from the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress.
Curtis listed three loans, two mortgages and a home equity loan, in the liabilities section of his report. The loans were all taken out in an eight-month stretch from November 2017 to June 2018 and total between $1.5 million and $6 million.
Rep. Burgess Owens, who represents Utah’s 4th Congressional District, reported between $2,002 and $30,000 in assets in his 2022 annual financial disclosure report.
The second-term congressman and former professional football player reported up to $400 in income on the assets, which included two bank accounts.
Owens, a member of the Oakland Raiders 1980 Super Bowl championship team, also reported $274.42 in book royalties in 2022 for his titles published by Post Hill Press. (The Raiders are now located in Las Vegas.)
His published titles include “Why I Stand: From Freedom to the Killing Fields of Socialism,” the cover of which features an American flag, the face of Abraham Lincoln and a kneeling professional football player, as well as “Liberalism or How to Turn Good Men Into Whiners, Weenies and Wimps.”
Owens also reported earning $1,191.35 in sales income through Melaleuca, Inc., (spelled Meleuca on his financial disclosure). The international wellness products company based in Idaho was warned in 2020 by the Federal Trade Commission for misrepresenting the amount of income a multi-level marketing sales representative could attain.
The Utah congressman reported $21,570 in earnings from his National Football League defined benefit pension plan, in which he enrolled in 1973.
Owens reported one liability: a student loan taken out in 2001 for his daughter in an amount ranging from $100,001 to $250,000.
The former athlete also listed three trips on which he was provided food and lodging. They included a Las Vegas Raiders-sponsored trip to Salt Lake City, a U.S. Department of State cultural exchange visit to Taiwan, and a trip to Tel Aviv sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation.
International Distribution Systems, Inc., a security hardware company, paid Owens $2,000 to deliver a speech in September 2022. Owens reported the payment went to charity, but did not identify a specific organization.