U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), who serves Florida’s third congressional district and represents Alachua County, failed to submit her annual financial disclosure on time for the second year in a row.
Cammack submitted her financial disclosure Aug. 17, 94 days after the May 15 deadline, according to the clerk of the House’s records.
Accountable.US, a nonpartisan nonprofit that works to hold government officials accountable, reported Cammack missed the Aug. 13 deadline to file her annual financial disclosure, despite receiving a 90-day extension from the original deadline.
Financial disclosures help the public detect potential conflicts of interest government employees might hold in their financial dealings. The form details outside compensation, holdings and business transactions the representative made in their personal life. They are filed with the clerk of the House by May 15 every calendar year and made public within 30 days of filing.
The House Committee on Ethics may approve up to a 90-day extension for representatives on or before the deadline of each year. The clerk of the House must make public any representative who filed for the 90-day extension, which sets a new deadline of Aug. 13 for representatives to submit their forms.
Derek Dufresne, Cammack’s general consultant, confirmed the congresswoman submitted her disclosure and provided an explanation for the delay in an Aug. 17 email.
“In order to ensure accuracy, the congresswoman was waiting on a clarifying answer regarding a question on the form, which unexpectedly delayed her submission,” Dufresne wrote. “It has been answered and the disclosure has been submitted.”
An Accountable.US report found almost 60% of incumbent representatives filed for extensions for their 2022 financial disclosures. Of the 257 representatives requesting these extensions, roughly 81% requested the full 90-day extension.
Cammack was one of seven House Republicans who had yet to submit their 2022 financial disclosures as of Aug. 13, according to the report. Four House Democrats filed after Aug. 13.
Cammack, who assumed office Jan. 3, 2021, also filed for a 90-day extension to submit her 2021 financial disclosure. The Committee on Ethics approved the 90-day extension, and Cammack was expected to file her form by Aug. 13, 2022. Instead, she submitted her form Aug. 24, 101 days after the May 15 deadline.
Cammack’s 2022 statement did not have any positions, agreements, gifts, payments made to charity or travel payment and reimbursements listed.
There is a $200 dollar late filing fee for financial disclosures that are submitted after the extension deadline.
Tom Rust, the chief counsel and staff director for the Committee on Ethics, declined to comment on Cammack’s late filing when reached out to over the phone.
Debates centered on members of Congress trading stock have made the release of financial disclosures — and the business dealings they outline — important for noticing conflicts of interest.
The STOCK Act, which was signed into law April 4, 2012, prohibits members of Congress from using insider information acquired from their time in office for personal gain.
Congress can participate in stock market trading and buy bonds, but it has been historically difficult to prove when a member of Congress has used insider knowledge for financial gain.
The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 gives the attorney general jurisdiction to “pursue civil or criminal penalties” against a government official who is proven to have purposefully falsified their financial disclosure or fails to file the form.
The False Statements Accountability Act of 1996 can institute a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment for up to five years for someone who fabricates their financial disclosure.
Contact Sophia at sbailly@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @sophia_bailly.
Sophia Bailly is a second-year journalism major and covers politics for the enterprise desk. Some of her favorite things include The Beatles, croissants and Agatha Christie books. When she's not writing stories she's either reading or going for a run.
