Some Good News for the Truth (but Bad News for Former USDOT Secretary Mineta)

This week, the Center for Responsive Politics finally received a copy of Mr. Mineta's CY2000 Public Financial Disclosure report from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, thanks to CRP's persistence. This is the disclosure in which Mr. Mineta checked the box marked "none" regarding any equity transactions that year, despite the fact that in Schedule A ("Assets and Income") of that disclosure he reported a capital gains income from stock options in Trimble Navigation of up to $1 million. I believe that he clearly lied on that disclosure to hide the fact that he received many more stock options in Trimble than he would have been entitled to by the company's official compensation policy for directors.

You can access those disclosures here.

(The key CY2000 disclosure is called the "2000 Amendment.")

Now that the "official unofficial source" of these disclosures has received this key disclosure and made it available online, it really won't make any difference if OGE destroys this disclosure next April -- the disclosure will still be in the public domain via CRP. This disclosure is key because it is the only one (of three) covering his 2000 finances in which he was required by law (the Ethics in Government Act) to disclose the details of his transaction(s) in Trimble Navigation stock options. His failure to do so, coupled with his support of policies designed to benefit Trimble (see below), clearly constitutes a violation of federal law.

As I've said in this blog several times before, I believe that Mr. Mineta very likely received a whole lot more stock options in the company than he should have been entitled to as a Board Member for just 13 months, and that he then biased his leadership of national policies when he was Commerce Secretary under President Clinton and Transportation Secretary under President Bush to benefit Trimble. In effect, they paid him up-front to push policies that would have long-term benefit to them. Hardly what you would expect an honorable, high-level "public servant" to do.

If you want to understand the nitty gritty detail that led me to believe that Mr. Mineta was "bought and paid for" by Trimble, read this white paper that I have provided to the authorities. This white paper is by now somewhat dated, as I have since discovered more specific information about why Trimble would have wanted to have the Commerce Secretary on their side back in mid-2000.

Interestingly, just last week I talked with a long-time friend of mine in the USDOT who (unprompted by me) recounted that former USDOT Deputy Secretary Michael P. Jackson (Mr. Mineta's second in command) demanded that the USDOT's ITS Joint Program Office (JPO) give Jackson $7 million for the new E-911 initiative, which confounded the folks in JPO and FHWA because it wasn't a transportation-related initiative at all. So-called "location technology" in which Trimble in a market leader is a key to make E-911 work, and it's clear to me that the E-911 initiative was one (of several) Mr. Mineta was pushing to pay Trimble back for their earlier generosity.

I have provided detailed information about this violation to the authorities, including the FBI, OIG, SEC, and IRS. Will these "guards" ultimately have the courage and integrity to fully investigate my allegation (which I'm quite certain is true)?

I'm betting that they will.

Jerry