Cindy Axne. (photo from Axne’s office.)
A non-profit called the Campaign Legal Center has filed an ethics complaint against Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne and six other House members, accusing the group of “failing to report stock trades in a timely manner.”
National Public Radio was first to report Axne, a Democrat for West Des Moines, along with three other Democrats and three Republicans in the House were being cited by the group. A law passed in 2012 requires members of Congress to file a public report when they buy and sell stock. According to the Campaign Legal Center, Axne didn’t report any stock transactions in 2019 and 2020.
A spokesperson for Axne said the congresswoman has publicly disclosed her assets, but “does not personally manage or execute the stock trades” for her retirement account or accounts she has with her husband or her small business. Axne’s spokesperson said the congresswoman will “take all necessary steps to ensure disclosures of stock trades are accurate and in accordance with the law.”
The chairman of the Iowa Republican Party said it is clear Axne “hid stock trades from public scrutiny” and he called her explanation for he lapse “a pathetic excuse.”
Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican from Ottumwa, is updating her financial disclosure form after the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported she failed to list her $25,000 salary as a state senator on the document. A spokesman for Miller-Meeks told the Gazette the congresswoman had no outside income, assets or liabilities to disclose.