Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, has come under intense scrutiny over her longtime relationship with a personal wealth adviser with whom she owns a home, but because the two are unmarried, Senate rules mean she is not required to disclose her partner's financial information.
“Senator Baldwin's partner, Maria Brisben, advises the ultra-wealthy in industries that Baldwin regulates, creating a significant conflict of interest that merits further investigation. Senator Baldwin should immediately disclose his partners' assets and client list. Wisconsinites deserve transparency,” a spokesperson for Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde said in a recent statement.
Brisbane, who has been in a relationship with Baldwin since 2018, works as a private wealth advisor for Morgan Stanley's asset management team, the Brisbane Group. In that role, she serves “ultra-high net worth” clients, according to the bank's website.
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Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde said Sen. Tammy Baldwin's relationship with Maria Brisbane posed a conflict of interest and called on Baldwin to disclose her partner's assets and clients. (Reuters)
According to Morgan Stanley's code of conduct, “examples of confidential information include the identities of our clients, our and our clients' trading activities and security holdings, acquisitions, divestitures and tender offer plans, our regulatory oversight activities, and personally identifiable information about our clients and employees.”
Fix Washington PAC, which is supporting Hovde in the hotly contested Wisconsin Senate race, recently ran ads about Brisben and Baldwin, their shared residence and Brisbane's client list.
“While they share multi-million dollar homes in New York and Washington, Baldwin has not reported on their joint assets or on Maria's clients who have made their fortunes in industries Tammy regulates,” the ad states. “This is a conflict of interest that raises serious ethical questions for Tammy Baldwin.”
It is true that Mr Baldwin has not disclosed Mr Brisbane's assets or client list in his financial disclosures, but current rules do not require him to do so.
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Baldwin has been in a relationship with Brisbane since 2018. (Daniel Boxerski/Wisconsin Democratic Party via Getty Images)
Baldwin responded to the ad with his own ad titled “A Total Lie.”
“This ad is a complete lie,” the company said. “The truth is that Tammy Baldwin has never shared inside information with her partners and is leading the fight to ban senators from buying individual stocks.”
“Eric Hovde's attempt to attack the woman Tammy Baldwin is dating is sad and desperate. Tammy works for the people of Wisconsin, and only Wisconsin. No matter how corrupt Eric Hovde becomes, voters will not forget the massive conflict of interest that comes with his continued ownership of a $3 billion California bank that receives deposits from unknown foreign banks and the government,” Baldwin campaign spokesman Andrew Mamo said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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Mr Hovde called for an investigation into Brisbane's links to the industries Mr Baldwin regulates. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via The Associated Press, File)
Her campaign also pointed out other senators who were in relationships but failed to disclose their partners' assets, including Sen. Tim Scott (R.S.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-J.).
One of the reasons Hovde and his campaign have raised the issue of potential conflicts of interest due to Baldwin's unmarried partner is that Brisbane previously worked as a biotechnology investment trust manager, according to a 2017 Cancer Research and Treatment Fund (CR&T) progress report.
“We manage customized equity portfolios with an emphasis on large growth stocks, seeking to drive performance through smaller biotech and technology companies,” Brisben added on Merrill Private Wealth Management's previous archived website.
Her clients are secret, so it's unclear who they are and what their interests are.
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Part of the concern raised by Hovde is that Baldwin serves as chairman of the Appropriations Committee's Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
“Tammy regulates the biotech industry,” a campaign ad from last week said. “Malia advises biotech clients. If they were married, they would have to disclose financial conflicts. But because they're not married, they can share inside information and get rich. It's time to investigate Senator Tammy Baldwin. She's in cahoots with Wall Street.”
Baldwin and Brisben are not married, but they purchased a home together in Washington, D.C., and both have their names on the property's title deed. According to Baldwin's campaign, the two split the cost of the condo, with Brisben paying cash and Baldwin taking out a mortgage on his share.
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The campaign also said Baldwin and Brisben did not share bank accounts.
A recent Marquette University Law School poll showed Baldwin leading Hovde among registered Wisconsin voters, 51% to 45%.
The Cook Political Report, a top political handicapper, rated the race with a slight advantage for Baldwin and, like several other Senate races, called it a “Democrat-favored” election.
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