Tammy Baldwin faces conflict of interest concerns over partner's Wall Street gig

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., has come under increased scrutiny over her years-long relationship with a private wealth adviser whom she owns a residence with, but since the two are unmarried, she is not required by Senate rules to disclose her partner's finances. 

"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. Sen. Baldwin should immediately disclose her partner's assets and client list – the people of Wisconsin deserve transparency," said a spokesperson for Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde in a recent statement. 

Brisbane, whom Baldwin has been dating since 2018, works as a private wealth adviser with the Brisbane Group, which is a wealth management team under the Morgan Stanley umbrella. In her capacity in the role, she serves clients with "ultra high net worth," the website says.

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Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde has called Sen. Tammy Baldwin's relationship with Maria Brisbane a conflict of interest and urged her to disclose her partner's assets and clients. (Reuters)

Per Morgan Stanley's code of conduct, "Examples of confidential information include the identity of our clients, Firm and client trading activities and securities holdings, acquisition, divestiture and tender offer plans, supervisory activities of the Firm’s regulators and Personally Identifiable Information relating to clients and employees."

The Fix Washington PAC, which is promoting Hovde in the competitive Wisconsin Senate race, recently cut an ad about Brisbane and Baldwin, their shared residence and Brisbane's client list. 

"They spend their time in New York and D.C. in their multimillion-dollar homes, but Baldwin fails to report their jointly owned assets or Maria's clients, who get rich off industries that Tammy regulates," the ad said. "That's a conflict of interest raising serious ethical questions to face Tammy Baldwin."

It's true that Baldwin does not disclose Brisbane's assets or client list in her own financial disclosures. However, she is not required to by the current rules. 

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Baldwin has dated Brisbane since 2018. (Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for The Democratic Party of Wisconsin)

Baldwin responded to the ad with one of her own, titled, "Complete lie."

"This ad is a complete lie," it said. "The truth is Tammy Baldwin's never shared inside information with her partner and Tammy Baldwin's leading the fight to ban senators from purchasing any individual stocks."

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Baldwin campaign spokesperson Andrew Mamo said, "Eric Hovde’s attempt to attack the woman Tammy Baldwin is dating is sad and desperate. Tammy works for the people of Wisconsin and only the people of Wisconsin. 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." 

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Hovde has called for Brisbane's ties to industries Baldwin regulates to be investigated. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, file)

Her campaign also pointed out other senators who have been in dating relationships that did not disclose their partner's assets, such as Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Cory Booker, D-N.J.

Part of the charges by Hovde and his campaign about the supposed conflict of interest posed by Baldwin's partner and their status as unmarried, is Brisbane's previous role as manager of a biotechnology mutual fund, per a progress report from 2017 for the Cancer Research & Treatment Fund (CR&T). 

Brisbane further listed on her firm's previous archived website under Merrill Private Wealth Management that she "manages custom-tailored equity portfolios that place emphasis on large-growth stocks – with an effort to enhance performance through small biotechnology and technology companies."

Because her clients are confidential, it's unknown who they are and what interests they may have. 

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Part of the concern put forward by Hovde is that Baldwin serves as chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee's Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies subcommittee. 

"Tammy regulates the biotech industry," an ad from his campaign said last week. "Maria advises clients in the biotech industry. If they were married, they would have to disclose their financial conflicts. But they aren't married, so they can share inside information to get rich. It's time to investigate Sen. Tammy Baldwin. She's in bed with Wall Street."

While Baldwin and Brisbane are not married, they purchased a residence in Washington, D.C., together and share it. Both of their names are on the property's deed. According to Baldwin's campaign, the two split the cost of the condominium and Brisbane paid for hers in cash while Baldwin took out a mortgage on her half. 

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The campaign also said Baldwin and Brisbane do not share bank accounts.

In a recent Marquette University Law School poll, Baldwin led Hovde 51% to 45% among registered voters in Wisconsin. 

Top political handicapper, the Cook Political Report, rated the election as a slight advantage for Baldwin, labeling it "lean Democrat," alongside several other competitive Senate races. 

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