Ned Lamont’s Transparency Woes

Photo credit: Hugh Mc Quaid, CTNewsJunkie.com

Ned Lamont's transparency woes are only getting worse.

After three years in office, Lamont is still failing to live up to the transparency standards Connecticut voters expect of their leaders, and instead continues to shield his conflicts of interest in his wife's business dealings.

"Ned Lamont broke his promise to be transparent when it came to his wife's conflicts of interest with state business," said RGA Spokesperson Chris Gustafson. "Voters across Connecticut deserve to know how Lamont and his wife are benefitting from state contracts at taxpayer expense. Transparency is the minimum expectation of an elected official and the longer Lamont hides information, the more questions this raises."

As Gov. Lamont faces questions on Annie Lamont's investments and state contracts, critics say more transparency is needed
Hartford Courant
Christopher Keating

More than two years ago, Gov. Ned Lamont sought legal counsel on how to avoid conflicts with his wife, Annie's, extensive company investment portfolio.

But despite receiving a 16-page ruling endorsing Lamont's plan to avoid a conflict between state business and family investments, the governor has faced criticism recently for investments in two startup companies involving state funding.

Both Democrats and Republicans say Lamont - a Greenwich multimillionaire who has spent more than $40 million of his own money running for office - could have avoided some of the criticism by being more transparent about the investments. Lamont, for example, held a press conference about a financial technology company moving from New York City to Stamford, but he never mentioned that his wife's venture capital fund had a prior investment in the company.

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