DO THIS NOW: Demand A Replacement for Commerce @SecretaryRoss Because Insider Trading

In late October 2017, just days before the so-called Paradise Papers would reveal that, when he divested some of his holdings upon taking office, Wilbur Ross retained assets in a shipping company related to Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

Ross had not disclosed the investment and apparently had no legal obligation to do so.

Still, the realization that the commerce secretary held a stake in a company tied to Putin at a time of Russo-American tension was likely to be damaging, so Ross apparently decided to make a buck off the bad news. Three days after a New York Times reporter contacted Ross to inquire about the stake in Navigator Holdings, the company, he took a short position on it—in effect, betting the value of his investment would drop.

When reports about Ross’s stake were published, the stock dropped. Ross then made a profit of between $100,000 and $250,000, according to disclosures. It looks like an ingenious maneuver: He absorbed the public-relations damage, but at least made some cash from it. That maneuver, however, is a form of insider trading, which government officials are prohibited from doing.

DO THIS NOW: Call your Senators and the White House and Demand that Wilbur Ross Be Replaced at the Commerce Department