Republican Rep. Diana Harshbarger failed to properly disclose more than 700 stock trades worth as much as $10.9 million in violation of federal transparency law

Harshbarger disclosed hundreds of stock trades weeks or months after a federal deadline.

The tardy trades could invite an ethics investigation and fine.

A Harshbarger aide said the congresswoman "accepts full responsibility."

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Rep. Diana Harshbarger, a Republican from Tennessee, failed to properly disclose more than 700 stock trades that together are worth at least $728,000 — and as much as $10.9 million, according to an Insider analysis of newly filed congressional records.

Harshbarger's late disclosures involved stock trades by herself and her husband, Robert Harshbarger, between early January and June. Those trades involved the stock of dozens of companies, some of which vie for federal government contracts or spend six or seven figures each year to lobby for favorable laws and regulations.

The companies include Facebook, Walmart, Apple, Verizon Communications, Coca-Cola, the oil giant Chevron, and the defense contractors Raytheon Technologies Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp., federal records indicate.

Harshbarger, a first-term lawmaker and member of the House Committee on Education and Labor, also traded what could be tens of thousands of dollars' worth of shares in Chegg Inc., an education-technology company.

The Harshbargers also bought or sold stock in Johnson & Johnson, a leading COVID-19 vaccine maker, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures a leading COVID-19 treatment involving monoclonal antibodies.

In 2013, Robert Harshbarger was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison and slapped with a restitution bill of $848,504 and a $25,000 criminal fine for distributing knock-off Chinese-made drugs not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to kidney-dialysis patients in Kansas.

By federal law, members of Congress have 30 days from when they become aware of a stock trade — and 45 days overall from the date of a trade — to formally disclose it in a certified report to the clerk of the House of Representatives.

Lawmakers are required to report the values of their stock trades only in broad ranges, and all of Harshbarger's individual trades fell within the $1,001 to $15,000 range.

Harshbarger's tardy reporting could prompt an ethics investigation or fine, which starts at $200.

In a statement to Insider, Harshbarger's chief of staff, Zac Rutherford, said that the congress member in December retained legal counsel to ensure compliance with all House Committee on Ethics guidelines and reporting requirements.

That counsel "established a system and protocols with the congresswoman's personal financial planner who provided assurance of familiarity and experience with all processes and requirements." The financial planner managed the congresswoman's portfolio "without any authorization, direction, or approval from Congresswoman Harshbarger."

"The financial advisor did not follow the established system and protocols," Rutherford said. "When the financial advisors' gross oversight was discovered, it became immediately clear that he was not familiar, and his error caused the congresswoman not to meet reporting requirements within the specified timeframe."

Rutherford added: "Harshbarger and our counsel immediately worked to rectify by self-reporting to the Committee and worked with it to file all necessary paperwork.

"Congresswoman Harshbarger, despite her best efforts to remain compliant, accepts full responsibility and has taken the appropriate steps to ensure this never happens again."

The STOCK Act holds members of Congress personally responsible for complying with disclosure rules, regardless of whether they make stock trades themselves or use a financial advisor or broker.

Kedric Payne, the general counsel and senior ethics director for the nonpartisan watchdog group Campaign Legal Center, said the Office of Congressional Ethics "should investigate" whether the lawmaker intentionally hid the trades for months.

"This is yet another example of a lawmaker ignoring the STOCK Act by failing to report a large volume of stock trades without consequence," Payne said.

Following publication of this article, the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint against Harshbarger with the Office of Congressional Ethics and requested an investigation.

Numerous STOCK Act violations in 2021

Insider and other news organizations have this year reported numerous examples of federal lawmakers violating the STOCK Act. The 2012 law was designed to combat insider trading among elected officials and require lawmakers to be transparent about their personal financial dealings.

In addition to Harshbarger, lawmakers who this year appear to have violated the STOCK Act's transparency provisions include:

Former Rep. Harley Rouda, a Democrat of California who's attempting a comeback, also failed to properly disclose stock trades.

Rep. Lois Frankel, a Democrat of Florida, likewise appears to have violated the STOCK Act with disclosures a few days late, though her office has disputed that.