U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne updates her financial disclosures

DES MOINES — U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne has filed updated financial disclosure statements after a government watchdog agency reported she had failed to disclose some financial transactions, a spokesman for her office said Friday.

The Des Moines Democrat was among seven members of Congress who did not file a full disclosure, according to The Campaign Legal Center, which asked the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate the matter.

Axne’s office at the time said the failure to disclose some transactions was an unintentional error that would be remedied.

On Friday, Axne’s spokesman said the reports were filed and steps have been taken to ensure the oversight will not occur again.

“Two weeks ago, Congresswoman Axne was made aware of clerical issues related to reporting transactions on her personal financial disclosure statements,” the spokesman said in a statement.

“As soon as she learned of these issues, she took steps to properly address them, including hiring an outside counsel to audit her reports and confirming with the third-party money manager who oversees the related retirement accounts that she did not personally direct or execute any of these trades.”

The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center’s report said Axne failed to properly disclose more than 40 transactions with a potential financial range of anywhere from roughly $43,000 to $645,000.

The center said the failure to disclose those transactions could be a violation of the STOCK Act, a federal law that requires members of Congress to disclose certain financial transactions to help prevent insider trading.

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