An aide from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could be breaking federal securities laws by holding large sums of bitcoin (BTC) and Tesla stock as he works to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
As reported by ProPublica, 25-year-old Gavin Kliger is a top CFPB official and helped lay off over 1,400 employees at the agency. This year, he publicly disclosed that he owned up to $365,000 worth of assets in Tesla, Apple, BTC, and solana (SOL).
However, both Tesla and Apple are on the CFPB’s list of prohibited holdings, while BTC and SOL holdings are forbidden under agency guidance regarding crypto firm investments. Kilger owns up to $15,000 worth of SOL, up to $50,000 worth of BTC and Apple stock, and up to $250,000 worth of Tesla stock.
According to ProPublica, ethics experts claim Kliger’s holdings represent a conflict of interest and may violate federal ethics laws.
One such expert at the St. Louis Washington University told ProPublica that Kliger “Destroying the CFPB is likely to have, I believe, a direct and predictable effect on his financial stock.”
Read more: What has Trump done for crypto in his first 100 days?
One employee from the layoff team claimed Kliger was responsible for firing 90% of the CFPB’s staff this month. Another CFPB employee, speaking anonymously, accused him of “screaming at people he did not believe were working fast enough” and keeping employees up for 36 hours to carry out the layoffs.
However, after months of court proceedings brought against the CFPB by unionized employees, it has since backtracked and cancelled the firing of its 1,400 employees.
In response to ProPublica, the White House said Kliger didn’t manage the layoffs and that this “narrative” is “an outright lie.” “These allegations are another attempt to diminish DOGE’s critical mission,” it said.
When asked about his role at the CFPB, the spokesperson said, “You have 90 days from the start date to divest, which is May 8 — it is only April 28. ProPublica notes that it’s unclear what the White House spokesperson was referencing here.
