President Donald Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million in shares of Axon Enterprise on 10 Feb, according to disclosed information, a transaction that occurred shortly before US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sought a large acquisition of Tasers from the market.
The investment was made on 10 Feb, approximately two weeks before ICE issued a notice for a five-year contract valued at $220 million to acquire roughly 17,800 new Tasers, says CNBC.
Although the ICE notice did not identify a specific manufacturer, procurement and policing experts said the requested specifications appeared to align closely with Axon's Taser 10 model. Among the listed requirements were a range of 45 feet and the ability to deploy 10 individually targeted probes, features experts said effectively limited the pool of potential competitors.
The timing of the investment and procurement effort has drawn scrutiny from ethics experts, who said it creates at least the appearance of a conflict of interest. The White House has said Trump's investments are managed by independent third parties and that "there are no conflicts of interest."
Under federal law, the president is exempt from criminal conflict-of-interest statutes that apply to most executive branch officials.
Axon's shares rose more than 34% in the week following the ICE notice. Based on the disclosed range of Trump's investment, estimates placed his potential paper gains at roughly $350,000 as of late June.
The company has expanded its presence in Washington in recent years, spending a record $2.5 million on lobbying last year. In addition to manufacturing Tasers and body cameras, Axon has been positioning itself as a broader technology provider to the federal government through cloud storage services, artificial intelligence tools and surveillance software designed to integrate multiple data sources.
There is currently no evidence of direct co-ordination among Trump, Axon or contracting officials regarding the stock purchase or the procurement process.
The proposed contract has not yet been finalised and appears to have slowed because of its cost and leadership changes within the Department of Homeland Security, according to the information provided. However, the agency is expected to continue pursuing the acquisition.
Donald Trump / Corruption / US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
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