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Senator Tammy Duckworth said Icahn's guidance to Trump on the
federal biofuel program may have created a conflict of interest
with the oil refining company CVR Energy Inc <CVI.N>, in which
he has an 82 percent stake.
"It appears Mr. Icahn potentially violated the principal
conflict of interest statute," by participating in a government
matter that affects his financial interests, said Duckworth of
ethanol-producing Illinois in a letter to the FBI, a copy of
which was seen by Reuters.
Duckworth said it would set a "dangerous precedent for the FBI
to turn a blind eye to suspicious activity" while Icahn was
serving as special adviser to the president on regulatory
reform.
Icahn ended his adviser role on Aug. 18 after facing criticism
that his policy recommendations could benefit his investments.
Icahn was one of the loudest critics of the federal biofuels
program called the Renewable Fuel Standard. As a Trump advisor,
he urged the administration to change the standard so oil
refiners would be freed from having to blend biofuels such as
ethanol into gasoline.
Such a move, if enacted, would have shifted responsibility for
biofuels down the fuel supply chain, saving refiners hundreds of
millions of dollars a year.
Jesse Lynn, general counsel for Icahn, said in an emailed
statement: "As we've said numerous times, and the White House
has confirmed, Mr. Icahn at no point was an employee or had any
policymaking role with the Trump Administration.”
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment
about the letter.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington and Chris Prentice
in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Andrew Hay)
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