Hovde calls on Baldwin to disclose her partner's assets, despite no requirement to do so

WASHINGTON – Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde is calling on Sen. Tammy Baldwin to disclose her partner’s assets and clients over what he has said is a potential conflict of interest between the senator and her private wealth adviser partner.

Baldwin, however, is not required to disclose such information under current Senate rules.

Hovde’s campaign on Monday said Baldwin’s position in the Senate and her partner Maria Brisbane’s work advising ultra-wealthy clients creates the “appearance of significant conflicts of interest” and said the relationship should be investigated.

The campaign referenced Baldwin’s position as chair of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education and noted Brisbane has advised clients in similar fields. Hovde’s campaign showed no direct links between the pair.

"Sen. Baldwin's partner, Maria Brisbane, advises the uber wealthy on industries regulated by Baldwin, creating a massive conflict of interest that merits further investigation,” Hovde spokesman Zach Bannon said Monday. “Sen. Baldwin should immediately disclose her partner's assets and client list — the people of Wisconsin deserve transparency.”

There is no evidence that Baldwin has used her influence in the Senate to benefit Brisbane or her clients. And since Baldwin and Brisbane are not married, Baldwin is not required to disclose Brisbane’s assets. Hovde, who is married, included his wife's assets in a financial disclosure filed in July.

Baldwin’s campaign said the Madison Democrat “has followed all ethics guidelines when it comes to her financial disclosure reports” and labeled Hovde’s demands “an escalation of a line of personal attacks Hovde launched online” —  a reference to an ad Hovde cut this month on the issue.

“Eric Hovde’s attempt to attack the woman Tammy Baldwin is dating is sad and desperate,” Baldwin campaign spokesman Andrew Mamo said this week. “Tammy works for the people of Wisconsin and only the people of Wisconsin.”

Brisbane, whom Baldwin has been dating since 2018, is a private wealth adviser at the Brisbane Group, a wealth management team within Morgan Stanley in New York. She manages “custom tailored equity portfolios,” according to Morgan Stanley, and works with “ultra high net worth” clients.

The attacks from Hovde stem from Brisbane’s previous work managing a biotechnology mutual fund. The Senate subcommittee Baldwin chairs oversees appropriations to HHS and the National Institutes of Health, which includes biomedical research and engineering.

While Brisbane’s Morgan Stanley biography says she has “previous experience as a biotechnology mutual fund manager,” the site makes no mention of current work in the field. Baldwin’s campaign told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel it “does not know the nature of Maria’s portfolio.”

Morgan Stanley’s code of conduct lists the identities of its clients as “confidential information” and prohibits employees from sharing such information “with internal or external parties.”

Baldwin and Brisbane bought a $1.3 million D.C. condo together in 2021. They split the cost in half, and Baldwin disclosed on her annual ethics report the mortgage she took out to cover her cost.

Baldwin in past congressional financial disclosure forms listed several jointly owned assets, including rental properties and money market accounts, with her previous partner in which she entered a registered domestic partnership with in 2009.

Bannon, the Hovde spokesman, this week said Baldwin’s “potential massive financial conflict of interest leaves more questions than answers” and “requires additional scrutiny and investigation due to her lack of transparency.”

But Baldwin’s campaign shot back at her multimillionaire opponent, noting Hovde has not said whether he’ll divest his holdings from Sunwest Bank, where he is CEO. The bank is estimated to have $3.2 billion in assets.

“No matter how low Eric Hovde goes, voters will not forget about the massive conflict of interest presented by his continued ownership of his $3 billion California bank that receives deposits from unnamed foreign banks and governments,” Mamo, the Baldwin spokesman, said.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Eric Hovde calls on Tammy Baldwin to disclose her partner's assets