As of last week, Mark Green is no longer a member of Congress. But before he resigned — and in the months leading up to his announcement that he was stepping down to pursue a business opportunity — Green admits he was in a delicate position.
“Part of the reason why I was so cagey about it is if I go and tell you the name of the company while I’m still a sitting congressman, couldn’t you make the accusation that I’m using my position to advertise my new company?” Green told NOTUS during a sit-down interview. “Wouldn’t that be inappropriate? Potentially unethical?”
Green seemed to acknowledge that his position, serving as a representative while laying the groundwork for a mystery business venture, was a tricky one. But he maintained that he did nothing wrong, even as he suggested to NOTUS that he was pitching his idea to other members.
“I went to Mike Johnson, and I said, ‘Hey, look, I’ve got this opportunity,’” Green said. “And he was so good about it. He was like, ‘Congratulations!’ May or may not have shared an interest himself, because this business is a tough business.”
“You got to put up with the crap when people try to malign you inappropriately, right?” Green continued. “So, yeah, I would say the final decision is probably three months ago, maybe a little further.”
Asked about this exchange, a spokesperson for Johnson said, “This comment was obviously a joke made between colleagues. But Speaker Johnson does wish his friend well in his post-Congressional life.”
When Green was later asked to clarify what he thought the speaker meant, he said Johnson said Green’s business “sounds like a great opportunity, and I’m called to do this for now, but one day…”
Green’s new venture is still a bit of a mystery. While he said the goal is to help American businesses expand overseas, he was “reluctant” to tell NOTUS the name of the company. “It’s on my LinkedIn page,” Green said. (According to his LinkedIn, the name of the company is “Prosimos.”)
NOTUS previously reported that Green was pitching members and lobbyists on an opportunity in Guyana. While Green specifically name-checked Guyana — “there are great opportunities in Guyana” — he said his company would also operate in other places as well, like Bosnia and Herzegovina and India.
“The cool thing about Guyana is they discovered the largest offshore oil finding in the history of the world,” Green said. “So billions of dollars are going into that country. Why can’t that be American businesses? Why can’t I help them?”
“Last thing I want to do is to take business overseas,” Green said. “I don’t want our manufacturers manufacturing outside. I want to help construction companies in the U.S. go build stuff in other countries because we’re losing that battle to China.”
Green was adamant that while he was talking with potential clients, he worked closely with the House Ethics Committee to ensure everything was above board and that he wouldn’t put himself in a position to run afoul of Ethics’ rules. But he acknowledged it was a challenge.
“Ethics is not set up for us to go out and start our own businesses,” Green said. On the forms members have to fill out when looking for their next job, they must disclose the name of their potential employer. But because his company didn’t exist yet, Green said he instead listed all of his potential clients.
However, Kedric Payne — the Campaign Legal Center’s vice president, general counsel and senior director of ethics — told NOTUS he found it “hard to believe that the Ethics Committee would allow him to solicit clients for new business while he was still a member of Congress.”
“It’s almost impossible to wear two hats, the head of an official versus the hat of a businessperson, especially if you are trying to find clients to do international transactions,” Payne said.
Green had read the NOTUS story about his business venture, in which three sources said he was being “cagey” about his company. He didn’t see a problem with a lawmaker pitching potential investors or clients while still in Congress.
“I don’t know how it could be sketchy,” Green said. “You know, no member is expected to just walk out and not have a job. That’s why they have the process set up.”
Payne countered that Green’s explanation raises more questions. He said the rules “focus on employers” because it’s “not even contemplated that someone would go out soliciting clients to that extent.”
A spokesperson for the Ethics Committee declined to comment.
NOTUS also previously reported that, in meetings with lobbyists, Green pitched them on a business opportunity and tried to get them to invest in a company. While he admitted to presenting a business opportunity to companies and asking people to invest, Green said he did not have a financial stake in the company. Rather, the company was based in his district and had expressed an interest in partnering with larger organizations, so he said he broached the idea with those companies.
He did not go into detail on which companies were involved.
Green’s decision to resign in the middle of his term has also raised eyebrows. He stayed on until Republicans had finished the reconciliation bill — a recognition that his resignation could present more vote challenges for the House GOP — but it was still an unorthodox process. (Green actually announced his intentions to retire at the end of last Congress, but backtracked after Donald Trump urged him to stay in the House.)
Green, however, seemed less interested in remaining in Congress after an affair scandal last summer prompted him to file for divorce. Green said the situation was “unfortunate” but that it didn’t have “any effect” on his decision to retire. He maintained that stepping down was simply a business decision.
Green said he doesn’t know whether he’ll ever run for office again, but that wasn’t opposed to an appointment in the Trump administration, adding that before the election he was in talks for a potential job.
For now, he seems ready to turn away from politics.
“I just need a break,” Green said.
“I don’t know that I’m done with politics. I hope I’m not,” he said. “Partly why I’m meeting with you, or I wouldn’t care.”