Did Biden’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Violate Her Ethics Agreement by Participating in Matters Involving Citadel?

It looks like newly-confirmed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen may have violated her ethics agreement with the US Treasury Department according to New York Times reporter Kenneth Vogel who stated in a tweet,

“Unless JANET YELLEN receives a written waiver, she will be barred by her ethics agreement from participating in any matter involving CITADEL, which makes millions in fees from ROBINHOOD, until Oct. 2021 (or 1 year after her last paid speech to Citadel)”

Janet Yellen Ethics Agreement with U.S. Department of Treasury PDF

First Squawk followed with a tweet saying, ‘US President Biden And Vice President Harris To Receive Briefing From Yellen Friday 11:00 ET.’

Bane Capital LLC tweeted, the following “About her resignation it better be” and added the following information,

The incoming US Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, has been paid at least $7m (£5.1m) for speaking engagements at government-regulated banks, consultancies and hedge funds over the past two years, according to newly disclosed documents.
The former Federal Reserve chair disclosed a list of more than so paid speaking events for financial firms that included $67,500 from Goldman Sachs, $54,000 from an event at Barclays and $292,500 from a single speech for hedge fund Citadel.

According to Fox News, Yellen received $800G from the hedge fund involved in the Gamestop controversy, however the White House did not commit to recusal.

“Newly-confirmed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen received around $810,000 in speaking fees from the hedge fund that bailed out one of the primary losers in the recent Gamestop frenzy.

Psaki: Treasury Secretary Yellen ‘monitoring’ GameStop stock situation

Jan. 27, 2021 – 1:43 – White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki answers reporter questions about Janet Yellen and the GameStop stock surge.

Surging GameStop stock creating chaos for hedge funds

Jan. 27, 2021 – 3:59 – FOX Business correspondent Kristina Partsinevelos joins ‘Your World’ with the latest

Yellen’s financial disclosure shows her making $337,500 for multiple days in Oct. of 2020 from Citadel. She similarly banked $292,500 in October of 2019 and $180,000 in December of that year.

The Senate confirmed Yellen on Monday, making her the first female US Treasury Secretary. She previously chaired the Federal Reserve after an appointment by former President Obama.

Both Citadel and Point72 infused almost $3 billion into Melvin Capital, which saw massive losses after betting against the video game retailer Gamestop. The White House said (see Psaki video above) on Wednesday that Yellen was monitoring the situation.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked Thursday during the daily briefing whether Yellen would recuse herself from advising the president on Gamestop. Psaki did not commit one way or another.

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Citadel does business with Robinhood, the trading app that helped fuel the massive stock activity that hit Melvin Capital. Robinhood said Thursday investors would only be able to sell their positions and not open new ones in some cases, and Robinhood will try to slow the amount of trading using borrowed money.

GameStop stock has rocketed from below $20 earlier to close around $350 Wednesday. The action was even wilder Thursday: The stock swung between $112 and $483. At midday it was down 27% at $255.