The 29-year-old congressional candidate with a father who owns a Washington D.C. lobbying firm said Friday that he is in the process of selling his stake in the business.
Dan Roberti of Kent, who is one of three Democrats vying for the nomination in the 5th Congressional District, said that’s why he requested an extension in filing his financial disclosure with the Office of House Ethics.
Roberti’s trust owns a 50 percent share of Roberti Associates Global, which in turn owns Roberti Associates, one of the biggest lobbying and government relation firms in Washington D.C. The firm is run by his father, Vin Roberti.
The extension gives Roberti until Aug. 13 to file his newest disclosure, but Roberti said he plans to file it well in advance of Aug. 13, so it doesn’t look like he’s dumping information on the media the day before the Aug. 14 primary.
Roberti said it’s taken a lot longer than he would have like to get independent valuations of the trust and how much the assets are worth, so he plans on selling the shares of Roberti Associates Global to his brother’s trust in order to expedite the process.
“These things, unfortunately, don’t happen overnight or as quickly as I would like,” Robeti said.
Divesting himself of the entire trust will take much longer, Roberti said. In the meantime, he said he’s less concerned about the real estate holdings in the trust and doesn’t believe any conflict of interest would arise from those holdings.
“The main goal is to separate myself from the lobbying business,” Roberti said. “I want to be an ethical member of Congress.”
Roberti admitted he did receive some financial advice, including putting the shares of Roberti Associates Global into a blind trust, but he dismissed the idea.
“I wanted to go a step further than what needed to be done,” Roberti said.
Roberti’s 2011 financial disclosure showed he had assets worth between $430,000 and $950,000, which included the trust and partnerships.
