NEW YORK _ Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross didn't disclose an interest he holds in a shipping company tied to relatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a new report Sunday.
Ross holds an interest in Navigator Holdings, a shipping firm in which his former company owns a stake, according to NBC News and the New York Times.
Among Navigator's most important partners is a Russian energy firm run by Putin's son-in-law and some of his most trusted allies.
The findings weren't disclosed during Ross' confirmation hearing in January, NBC noted.
The Ross revelation was included in the 7 million documents belonging to the Bermuda-based law firm Appleby. They were obtained by Suddeutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper, and shared with International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which named them the Paradise Papers.
The organization shared about 13.4 million documents in total with news organizations, detailing the offshore holdings of high-profile figures including Ross, Queen Elizabeth II, a Russian billionaire with stakes in Twitter and Facebook and with singers Madonna and Bono.
Ross shed multiple holdings when he became commerce secretary, but held onto his stake in Navigator. It could come under fire as Ross now oversees U.S. trade policy. He told NBC through a statement he recuses himself from potential conflicts of interest, and has typically supported sanctions against Russian businesses.
The company makes millions of dollars shipping resources from major client Sibur, the New York Times reported.
Sibur's leadership includes Gennady Timchenko, Putin's friend who's been sanctioned by the U.S., as well as Putin's son-in-law Kirill Shamalov.
Ross' spokesman told the Times that he never met any of Sibur's oligarch bosses, and Navigator's contract with the company was signed before the billionaire industrialist joined its board in 2012.
But records show Ross' company bought into Navigator in November 2011, several months before Navigator chartered its first ships for Sibur.
"Sibur was not under sanctions at the time the contract was signed and is still not subject to sanctions," spokesman James Rockas told the Times.
None of the actions appear to show illegality, but are likely to bring new scrutiny to the Trump administration.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Ross "misled me, the Senate Commerce Committee, and the American people."
"Only after a thorough investigation can the American people be sure that Secretary Ross really has their best interests at heart _ and that he hasn't prioritized his own personal profits or those of Vladimir Putin or his Russian business partners," he said in a statement.
White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, a former Goldman Sachs president, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who previously ran ExxonMobil, are also named in the trove of documents.
