A uranium mining company under investigation by House Democrats for potential insider trading missed an Aug. 24 deadline to turn over communications between its executives and the Trump administration, according to a spokesperson for one of the lawmakers involved.
That’s after U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) sent a letter on Aug. 10 to the president and CEO of Energy Fuels, Inc., Ross Bhappu, asking for a year’s worth of communications between the company and officials at the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The letter also requested the calendars of Bhappu and Board Chair Bruce Hansen and the company’s lobbying contracts.
The Democrats’ investigation is focused on whether Bhappu and Hansen received nonpublic information from Trump administration officials about the planned downsizing of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah before it happened.
A 2017 Washington Post article cites an Energy Fuels executive as having told the Interior Department about uranium and vanadium deposits in Bears Ears “that could provide valuable energy and mineral resources in the future.”
Bears Ears contains substantial uranium deposits that were inaccessible until the monument was cut. Energy Fuels Resources’ White Mesa Mill is the only conventional uranium processing mill operating in the U.S., and it sits less than a mile from the former boundaries of the monument.
Public records show Bhappu purchased 74,000 shares of stock on July 7, and that Hansen bought 4,000 on July 8. Trump announced the Bears Ears reduction on July 13.
Energy Fuels declined an interview request for this story. A spokesperson referred KNAU to an Aug. 11 email statement in which the company said it “strongly rejects” the notion that Bhappu or Hansen engaged in any improper conduct, and that it holds no mining claims or economic interests in the lands that were formerly part of the monument.
“The Company does not have anything further to add to the statement at this time,” wrote Kim Casey, Energy Fuels’ director of investor relations.
In an email, a spokesperson for Huffman told KNAU that Energy Fuels sent a letter in response to the Democrats’ investigation, but that it “failed to respond to or even acknowledge the insider trading allegations.”
The spokesperson declined to provide the company’s letter, and said the Democratic lawmakers will continue their investigation. The company had not turned over the materials the lawmakers requested by the Aug. 24 deadline, the spokesperson clarified.
Individual lawmakers in Congress generally don’t have the power to issue subpoenas for documents and testimony without the backing of a committee. With Republicans in control of the House and Senate, Democratic lawmakers like Huffman and Dexter can’t compel Energy Fuels to cooperate.
But in an Aug. 11 interview with KNAU, Huffman said he hoped the midterms will change that dynamic.
“A few months from now, it may be a very different story,” Huffman said at the time. “If you've got Democrats holding gavels at major committees with the ability to convene hearings, and to bring witnesses in under oath, and to back up their investigations with subpoena power, and even go to court if they have to — that's a whole different ball game.”
Other House Democrats are already signaling that should they retake the chamber in November, they’ll launch a series of oversight investigations into the administration’s spending on critical mineral production.
In June, the U.S. Department of Defense signed a $725 million conditional loan agreement with Energy Fuels to support developing rare earth minerals. The company announced in July that it plans to expand the White Mesa Mill’s capacity to process such minerals, in part due to the federal loan. The mill also processes uranium.
The Trump administration has spent heavily on boosting domestic production of critical and rare earth minerals to reduce U.S. dependence on China and preserve defense supply chains.
Energy Fuels highlighted those needs in its Aug. 11 statement.
“The White Mesa Mill is one of the most highly regulated mineral processing facilities in the United States and plays a critical role in strengthening domestic supply chains for uranium and rare earth materials, reducing U.S. reliance on foreign sources of minerals essential to carbon-free energy, advanced manufacturing, and national defense applications,” the statement reads.
It continues: “The facility operates under a comprehensive framework of federal, state, and local permits and oversight.”
