Suozzi acknowledges missing stock transaction reporting deadline again

WASHINGTON — Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor, admitted Tuesday that he missed the deadline again on reporting stock transactions on his most recent report, despite a House ethics review of his previous tardy filings.

Suozzi, a Glen Cove Democrat, submitted a report last week that includes 10 stock transactions conducted in March that should have been reported earlier, according to the 45-day deadline set by a federal law known as the STOCK Act.

“In an effort to streamline the reporting process, we have consolidated accounts. In the process, transactions in the new account were reported 32 days late and the required $200 fine will be paid,” a Suozzi spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

In September, Suozzi acknowledged to Newsday that he had failed to file individual reports on transactions as required by the STOCK Act, blamed in on “a misunderstanding” and said independent advisers manage his investments, not him.

The House Ethics Committee published a notice on April 14 that the independent Office of Congressional Ethics had investigated his financial transactions and had sent a referral on its findings on Feb. 28. The committee said it would announce its “course of action” on July 29.

The Office of Congressional Ethics opened its probe after the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint saying that Suozzi did not report by the required deadline more than 300 transactions that ranged from $3.2 million to $11 million from 2017 through 2020.

The STOCK Act, sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in the Senate and former Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-Rochester) in the House, was enacted in 2012 with the aim of using public disclosure to stop insider trading by lawmakers.