Trump’s wealthiest Cabinet members earned millions in 2017

President Donald Trump’s three wealthiest Cabinet members took in tens of millions of dollars last year, including from divesting holdings to avoid conflicts of interest, according to disclosure filings released by the administration.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her husband took in at least $59.4 million in 2017, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reported income of more than $41.6 million, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross tallied $47 million that year, according to annual financial disclosures each made to their agencies.

A substantial chunk of the trio’s income came from the sale of assets. They also reported bringing in money from dividends, capital gains and interest on accounts, the filings show.

The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center has asked the Commerce Department’s inspector general to investigate whether Ross violated laws banning false statements and omissions in his earlier financial disclosures. “Ross’s financial disclosure is probably the most complicated one that has ever existed,” said Delaney Marsco, a Campaign Legal Center ethics lawyer. “For you or me, these financial disclosure documents would give a complete picture of our finances. But for people who are super wealthy, this doesn’t tell us everything we would want to know.”

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