Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sold stakes this
summer in at least five companies after they were identified as doing
business with the Pentagon, according to his latest financial
disclosure form, made available on Wednesday. Sold were all his shares
in Millennium Chemicals Inc., St Paul Companies Inc., Sonoco Products
Co., VF Corp. and Zebra Technologies Corp., according to an aide's
handwritten note on the disclosure report. The note, dated June 28,
said the companies had been "identified as DoD defense contractors."
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a query about the threshold
for such identification, nor about the reasoning behind the sale. The
20-page form, released by the Office on Government Ethics in response
to a request from Reuters, showed Rumsfeld's assets, liabilities and
transactions for the year ended Dec. 31, 2003. Described in ranges
rather than exact amounts, his largest holdings included a trust in his
name valued at $25 million to $50 million, farm land in New Mexico
valued in the millions and a stake in Gilead Sciences Inc. worth $5
million to $25 million. Rumsfeld served as chairman of Gilead Sciences,
a Foster City, California, biotechnology company, before being sworn in
as President Bush's defense secretary on Jan. 20, 2001. [more ]
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