Maryland Rep. David Trone (D.) burned $62 million of his own money on his failed Senate primary bid in May. Now, he may spend his last remaining months in Congress fending off allegations that he misrepresented the true extent of his wealth in his public financial disclosure reports.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a government watchdog group, on Thursday filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics alleging that Trone's financial disclosures "significantly underreported" the value of his ownership stake in Total Wine, the $2.4 billion liquor retail chain he cofounded with his brother, in violation of federal law. The complaint cites extensively from a series of Washington Free Beacon reports that found Trone failed to disclose at least eight Total Wine affiliates in his disclosures dating back to 2016, when he first ran for Congress.
"This is a case where known facts appear to contradict with what Congressman Trone put forth on his own financial disclosures," FACT executive director Kendra Arnold told the Free Beacon. "One issue the House Ethics Manual clearly acknowledges is the stringent enforcement of the financial disclosure law because it is the only method to determine whether candidates or Members have conflicts of interest."
"Moreover, the failure of Members to follow the most basic ethics rules leads to public distrust in our elected officials and is unacceptable," Arnold added.
Total Wine was central to Trone's political rise and fall. He reported raking in at least $120 million and up to more than $263 million in distributions from the company and its various affiliates during his three terms in the House, starting in 2019. Those earnings helped Trone invest more than $100 million into his political campaigns, including the $61.8 million he dumped into his failed Senate primary bid against Prince George's County executive Angela Alsobrooks.
But Trone's financial disclosures don't paint a complete picture of his ownership of Total Wine. In his latest disclosure, covering the 2022 calendar year, he reported the value of his Total Wine holdings were worth no more than $80 million. That disclosure didn't include his ownership stake in Total Wine's Indiana affiliate, Indiana Fine Wine & Spirits, a company he founded with his brother in 2019 and used to help secure his $25 million business loan with PNC Bank.
Trone campaign spokesman Nathaniel Philp told the Free Beacon in May that the congressman didn't 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 worth less than $1,000 and therefore didn't cross 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.
But FACT said that explanation doesn't pass the smell test.
"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," Arnold said.
An Office of Congressional Ethics investigation into Trone's finances during his final months in Congress would be an ignominious end to a political career that held much promise at the beginning of 2024. Earlier this year, he was the running favorite to secure the Democratic nomination to take on former Maryland governor Larry Hogan (R.) for the state's open Senate seat.
Trone led Alsobrooks, his African-American primary opponent, by a seemingly insurmountable 17 points in mid-February. But it all came crashing down for Trone starting in March, when he used the term "jigaboo," a racial slur, during a hearing with Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young, who is black. The incident led several members of the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Alsobrooks.
As Alsobrooks closed the polling gap against Trone, the congressman went on the offensive, casting his opponent as an inexperienced politician unprepared for the rigors of the Senate.
But Trone's comments 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 blowout defeat, earning less than 43 percent of the vote compared with Alsobrooks's 53 percent.
Trone's office did not return a request for comment.