Wendy Teramoto served as a part-time adviser to Ross while maintaining her board seat at the energy shipping company with a Kremlin-linked client.
A top adviser to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross served on the board of Navigator Holdings, a shipping company whose clients include a Russian energy company with Kremlin ties, while she was working in the Trump administration.
Wendy Teramoto retained her seat on Navigator’s board after joining Commerce in mid-March as a part-time adviser to Ross, one of the most influential voices in President Donald Trump’s ear on global trade and economic policy. She also continued to serve as an executive of Ross’s private equity firm WL Ross & Co. after becoming a government employee.
Teramoto didn’t resign her seat on Navigator’s board until July 17, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. She left WL Ross that same month. On Aug. 1, she was formally named Ross’s chief of staff.
Her role with Navigator is notable because Ross has come under scrutiny after the release of a cache of documents by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on Sunday that showed him profiting from investments in Navigator, which does significant business with Sibur, an energy company partly owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law. Sibur has not been subject to U.S. sanctions on Russian energy companies, though one of its owners is, according to the ICIJ report.
Ross has denied any wrongdoing. He has recused himself from transoceanic shipping matters and has said that he met all disclosure requirements, despite some Democratic lawmakers’ claim that the link between his investments and Russia were not fully revealed.
The matter has also grabbed attention because relationships between senior members of Trump’s inner circle and Russia are under increasing scrutiny from prosecutors and congressional investigators.
The overlap between Teramoto’s board tenure and her time at the Commerce Department could be problematic because it’s yet another point of connection between Russian financial interests and the Trump administration, even if no government violations occurred. It’s also not known whether Teramoto was receiving compensation from Navigator or influencing company decisions while she was serving at Commerce.
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Wilbur Ross employed an aide at Commerce who was *simultaneously* a board member at Kremlin-linked company. https://t.co/JbtdKVthOU
— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) November 7, 2017
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