[tomder55]

This according to the WSJ

US. ethics officials in recent years have warned one-third of the Energy Department’s senior officials that they or their families owned stocks related to the agency’s work, reminding them not to violate federal conflict-of-interest rules.
Most held on to the stocks, a Wall Street Journal analysis of officials’ financial disclosures from 2017 through 2021 shows.
The more than 300 agency officials who received such warnings include nearly six dozen who held stocks of major energy companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp.
More than 130 officials in the Energy Department collectively reported about 2,700 trades of shares, bonds and options in companies that ethics officers labeled as related to their agency’s work, according to the Journal’s analysis, which examined only disclosures by officials who filed annual reports in that period.

Hundreds of Energy Department Officials Hold Stocks Related to Agency’s Work Despite Warnings - WSJ



Now the letter they sent did not order them to sell their shares. Instead they told the execs to not to work on matters that would “have a direct and predictable effect” on the company, and to “remain alert for any potential conflicts.”
They trust the official to do the right thing. Yeah that's the ticket.

Some example of note
Paul Golan was in charge of overseeing 2 research labs. He reported 130 trades in 18 companies that are regulated by the agency;several of them with direct business with the labs he oversaw.

In 2017, Chevron researchers collaborated with scientists at an Energy Department lab Mr. Golan oversaw on experiments that used X-ray technology to better predict corrosion rates from crude oil, which could help the company avoid costly safety incidents. That year, Mr. Golan reported six trades in Chevron stock. He continued to report trades in its shares after ethics officials marked the holding as related to the Energy Department’s work and sent him a letter about it.
Mr. Golan reported buying and selling Chevron shares a total of 18 times over the next two years, mostly in chunks valued at between $15,001 and $50,000. In February 2020, ethics officials again noted Chevron was a company related to the department’s work. Mr. Golan reported six more trades in the stock made in 2020, this time in increments of $50,001 to $100,000.

David Meyer, a senior adviser in the Energy Department’s electricity division had his wife make frequent trades in stocks of energy, solar and electric charging companies. Meyer reported more than 450 trades in stocks that ethics officials said were related to the department’s work.

One of the companies was SunPower Corp . SunPower received $6.65 million in funding from the agency ;including from divisions Meyer ran.
When the ethics people warned him he continued to make trades . He says he did not tell his wife trade related news . Like Evita's cattle futures trades ,she was just lucky. He says that his wife “scrupulously refrained” from trading in energy stocks .BUT .....“In some instances it was not apparent that a company dealt in electricity-related products or services.”

Uh huh ;And Quid NEVER discussed Hunter’s business dealings. Yep no way of knowing a company called SunPower Corp would be involved in energy related business. </sarc>