Dems seek probe of Icahn
Activist investor’s biofuel credit dealings draw Senate scrutiny
Eight U.S. senate Democrats are seeking a federal investigation of whether Donald Trump adviser Carl Icahn violated insider trading or other laws with his investments and advice involving renewable fuel credits.
In a Tuesday letter to federal financial and environmental agencies, the group questioned whether the billionaire activist investor influenced the Trump administration in ways that would drive down the price of renewable fuel credits. Such a drop would benefit CVR Energy, a company largely owned by Icahn that is heavily involved in the market for the fuel credits, the senators wrote.
“We are writing to request that your agencies investigate whether Carl Icahn violated insider trading laws, anti-market manipulation laws, or any other relevant laws based on his recent actions in the market for renewable fuel credits,” the letter stated. While acknowledging the group did not know if Icahn had done anything, they wrote that “the publicly available evidence is troubling.”
The letter was signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Thomas Carper of Delaware, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
Seeking a response by June 9, the request was sent to leaders of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency. The agencies, which oversee trading of credits known as Renewable Identification Numbers, or RINs, are