Maryland Representative David Trone, a Democrat, spent a staggering $62 million of his personal fortune on his unsuccessful Senate primary campaign in May.
Now, he may have to devote his final months in Congress to defending himself against accusations that he downplayed the true scale of his wealth in his public financial disclosure reports.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a government watchdog organization, lodged a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics on Thursday. The complaint alleges that Trone's financial disclosures "significantly underreported" the value of his stake in Total Wine, a $2.4 billion liquor retail chain he co-founded with his brother, in violation of federal law.
The complaint draws heavily from a series of reports by The Washington Free Beacon, which discovered that Trone failed to disclose at least eight Total Wine affiliates in his disclosures dating back to 2016, when he first sought a congressional seat.
Kendra Arnold, FACT's executive director, told The Washington Free Beacon, "This is a case where known facts appear to contradict with what Congressman Trone put forth on his own financial disclosures." She emphasized the importance of strict enforcement of financial disclosure laws, as they are the only means to ascertain whether candidates or Members have conflicts of interest.
Arnold added, "Moreover, the failure of Members to follow the most basic ethics rules leads to public distrust in our elected officials and is unacceptable."
Total Wine played a pivotal role in Trone's political trajectory. He reported earning at least $120 million and possibly over $263 million in distributions from the company and its various affiliates during his three terms in the House, starting in 2019. These earnings enabled Trone to pour more than $100 million into his political campaigns, including the $61.8 million he invested in his unsuccessful Senate primary bid against Prince George's County executive Angela Alsobrooks.
However, Trone's financial disclosures do not fully illustrate his ownership of Total Wine. In his most recent disclosure, for the 2022 calendar year, he reported that his Total Wine holdings were worth no more than $80 million. This disclosure did not include his ownership stake in Total Wine's Indiana affiliate, Indiana Fine Wine & Spirits, a company he and his brother established in 2019 and used to secure his $25 million business loan with PNC Bank.
Trone's campaign spokesman, Nathaniel Philp, told The Washington Free Beacon in May that the congressman did not disclose his ownership stake in the Indiana business and other Total Wine affiliates he pledged as collateral in his PNC Bank loan because, on paper, the businesses were valued at less than $1,000 and thus did not meet the reporting threshold.
"The rules governing the House's financial disclosure reporting did not require disclosure of these particular assets in those particular years," Philp said.
However, FACT contends that this explanation does not hold water.
Arnold said, "If these franchises have a value of more than $1,000, which they likely would base upon his use of them as loan collateral, he would be legally required to disclose them."
An investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics into Trone's finances during his final months in Congress would be a disgraceful conclusion to a political career that began with much promise in 2024. Earlier this year, he was the frontrunner to secure the Democratic nomination to challenge former Maryland governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, for the state's open Senate seat.
Trone was leading Alsobrooks, his African-American primary opponent, by a seemingly unassailable 17 points in mid-February. However, his fortunes took a turn for the worse in March, when he used a racial slur during a hearing with Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young, who is black. This incident led several members of the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Alsobrooks.
As Alsobrooks narrowed the polling gap against Trone, the congressman went on the attack, portraying his opponent as a novice politician ill-equipped for the demands of the Senate.
However, Trone's remarks backfired, leading several former Maryland Democratic state party chairs to endorse Alsobrooks on the eve of the Maryland primary.
"David Trone has cast disparaging comments about women, inadvertently uttered racial slurs, and has denigrated public service. He will be challenged in building the statewide unity that is needed to win in November," Maryland Democratic officials said in a statement days before the state's primary election.
Trone ultimately suffered a resounding defeat, securing less than 43 percent of the vote compared with Alsobrooks's 53 percent.
Login