Brenda Fitzgerald, President Donald Trump’s director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bought and sold shares in a tobacco company after taking office last year, Politico reported Tuesday, posing a potentially serious conflict of interest. Preventing smoking is a major focus of the CDC. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the “potentially conflicting” stock purchase to Politico, and said they were made by her financial adviser, and she later sold them. Citing disclosure forms, Politico reported Fitzgerald bought between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of stock in Japan Tobacco Inc. , which owns U.S. brands such as Winston, Camel and Benson & Hedges. She also bought between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of shares in health-care companies Merck & Co. , Bayer and health insurer Humana . Fitzgerald, who took office in July, made the purchases in August and September and sold all her stock holdings by the end of November, Politico reported. Critics called the stock moves “at best, sloppy,” at worst “legally problematic,” Politico said.
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