Senator James Inhofe purchased stock in defense contractor after pushing for more military spending [View all]

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Sen. James Inhofe took over leadership of the Senate Armed Services Committee after former chairman Sen. John McCain died.

Washington (CNN)Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, purchased thousands of dollars in defense stock after successfully pushing the Trump administration for more Defense Department spending.

According to his Senate financial disclosure report, Inhofe listed a purchase of $50,000-$100,000 in stock in US defense contractor Raytheon. Inhofe's communications director said he canceled the transaction when he became aware of it.

President Donald Trump recently agreed to a defense budget of $750 billion for the coming year, reversing his plans to shrink a $716 billion defense budget allocated in 2019 that he thought was too much money, calling it "crazy." Trump's decision came out of a meeting with Inhofe, along with Defense Secretary James Mattis and the chairman of the House Armed Services committee, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas. The listed date for the purchase was Tuesday, a week after the meeting.

The purchase will raise conflict of interest questions because Inhofe is now the leader of the Senate committee that approves the Pentagon's budget. Inhofe recently took over the chairmanship of the committee after the death of Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who had long served as the top Republican on the committee.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/12/politics/james-inhofe-purchase-raytheon-stock/index.html