Elon Musk, others say Sen. Whitehouse funneled money to benefit his wife. What we found.

Yahoo

26-02-2025

PROVIDENCE – Political critics of Rhode Island's outspoken U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse are once again raising conflict-of-interest issues over his wife's work as a marine scientist and policy counsel, an arena that benefits from federal funds.
The bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee dismissed a similar complaint, filed against Whitehouse by a conservative activist group called "Judicial Watch" last year.
The heart of that complaint: "Not only has Senator Whitehouse not abstained from voting on environmental legislation that directly benefits his wife's clients (and thus, his wife), but he has repeatedly sponsored legislation" that authorizes "federal environmental programs that fund activities undertaken by his wife's clients."
After having "carefully evaluated the allegations," the Ethics Committee "concluded that Senator Whitehouse's actions did not violate federal law, Senate Rules, and other standards of conduct," according to the Aug. 16, 2024 dismissal letter.
"Accordingly, the Committee intends no further action with respect to this matter."
Earlier this week, a group calling itself The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust aka "FACT" called for a new ethics investigation into Whitehouse's votes for legislation that enabled the non-profit Ocean Conservancy to apply for and win federal grants used, in part, to hire Sandra Whitehouse's firm – Ocean Wonks LLC – as a consultant.
The complaint got a write-up in the National Review under the headline – "Watchdog Flags Sheldon Whitehouse for Potential Ethics Violation in Backing Bill That Enriched Wife's Employer."
Elon Musk also weighed in.
"It's always the spouse …" Musk wrote over this factually incorrect posting by anonymous "Libs of TikTok" that said: "BOMBSHELL: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) backed legislation that funneled millions to his wife's environmental nonprofit, Ocean Conservancy."
Where the post erred: Sandra Whitehouse is president of a company that does work for Ocean Conservancy.
For context: Whitehouse, five days earlier, issued one of his many statements critical of President Donald Trump's moves, this one headlined: "Whitehouse questions Musk hiring in new letter to Trump White House."
His office issued this statement on his behalf: 'This is a repeat dark money performance, and the previous attempt by a dark money group to plant these same smears was roundly dismissed by Senate Ethics."
"The billionaires and Supreme Court capture operatives behind FACT would like to try to stop [Whitehouse] from shining a light on what they've done to deprive regular people of a fair shake before the court," the statement continues.
"But false accusations from far-right special interests and billionaires like Elon Musk – who is trying to silence critics of his raid on federal agencies – will not impede the senator's pursuit of an accountable, ethical government that responds to Americans' needs.'
Sandra Whitehouse's work in the ocean arena has been disclosed many times over the years, most recently in the senator's financial disclosure filing, which identified the sources of his wife's self-employment income in 2023 as Ocean Conservancy in Washington, D.C. and Running Tides Technologies, Inc., in Portland, Maine.
She is the president of Ocean Wonks, which was paid $280,000 by Ocean Conservancy as a subcontractor, and more specifically as policy counsel, in 2023, according to a public tax filing that shows Ocean Conservancy getting an overall $2,145,539 in government grants that year.
Broadly speaking, Ocean Conservancy's mission is to protect the ocean from threats and advocate for healthy and diverse ocean ecosystems.
Earlier this month, it posted a piece on its website on the way President Donald Trump's recent executive actions "jeopardize a healthy ocean and the health of the people and wildlife that rely on it."
In its complaint, FACT alleged that Sandra Whitehouse's company has worked for Ocean Conservancy since 2017 – and that she has done work for the organization since 2008.
During that 17-year period, the complaint alleges that Ocean Conservancy has been awarded 19 government grants worth approximately $14.2 million, including $5.2 million in the autumn of 2024 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for marine debris cleanup.
The allegation: "This grant was funded by the Biden Administration's 'Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,' a bill Sheldon Whitehouse supported and voted for." (Ocean Conservancy received an additional $1.7 million from the Environmental Protection Agency's annual appropriations bill to assist with marine debris cleanup.)
FACT calls it "egregious" that Whitehouse, a senator from the Ocean State, longtime member of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee and co-founder of the Senate's 'Oceans Caucus" – voted and advocated for bills that coincided with those backed by Ocean Conservancy.
"Ocean Conservancy also advocated and secured billions in funding for coastal restoration projects in the Inflation Reduction Act. Senator Whitehouse not only voted for that legislation, but touted $3 billion in grant funding for ports and coastal restoration among the Whitehouse-backed measures in the bill,' the complaint reads.
Sandra Whitehouse has never been a direct employee of Ocean Conservancy, according to Jeff Watters, vice president of external affairs for the organization.
But Sandra Whitehouse, who holds a Ph.D. in marine biology from the University of Rhode Island, has worked as an ocean policy consultant to the organization since 2008.
In the years that she's done work for Ocean Conservancy, the organization has received a total of $14.2 million in federal funding. The money includes the two grants that are the subject of the current ethics complaint: a $5.2 million grant through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Both were awarded in 2024 to fund marine debris cleanup work.
'Dr. Sandra Whitehouse has not received compensation from these federal grants allocated to Ocean Conservancy, and her work for Ocean Conservancy does not include any work on either of the projects funded by those two grants,' Watters said.
He said that the organization was selected for funding because the organization has more than 40 years of experience cleaning up trash from beaches, waterways and oceans.
'Ocean Conservancy is a global leader in marine debris cleanup,' Watters said.
'The grants Ocean Conservancy received from NOAA came from laws passed with broad bipartisan support that then went through a competitive, independent selection process which designated Ocean Conservancy to be one among hundreds of grantees to receive funding," Watters said. "Ocean Conservancy's selection was based on our decades of expertise in addressing marine debris and protecting the ocean.'
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Elon Musk, other raise conflict-of-interest complaints against Sheldon Whitehouse