Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole violated a federal financial disclosure law by failing to properly disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of personal stock purchases, according to a NOTUS review of new federal records.
Cole was between four and five months late revealing December 2025 purchases of Tesla, Nike and Super Micro Computer stock that, taken together, is worth between $300,000 and $750,000, a filing with the independent Office of Government Ethics indicates.
Federal law requires high-ranking executive branch officials to publicly disclose individual stock trades within 45 days of making them. The government requires such disclosure to defend against insider trading, to curb conflicts of interest and to enhance transparency.
In a statement to NOTUS, the DEA said Cole requested on June 29 that the agency waive any fee for his late disclosure — penalties begin at $200 — and agency ethics officials granted that request.
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“Administrator Cole had been in his position for only six months when he conducted these transactions,” the DEA said in its statement. “DEA’s ethics officials identified no conflicts.”
The DEA did not address other questions, including why Cole purchased the stocks and why he waited past a federal deadline to disclose them.
Office of Government Ethics spokesperson Patrick Shepherd declined to comment, noting his agency “does not respond to questions about specific individuals.”
Super Micro Computer stock has increased in value since Cole purchased his shares in December, while Nike and Tesla stock have declined in value.
Tesla, Nike and Super Micro Computer do not appear to do business with the DEA.
In a federal ethics agreement Cole signed in March 2025, prior to his Senate confirmation, he agreed to divest of stock he held in Amazon.com — a contractor for the Department of Justice, of which the DEA is a part — and “avoid any actual or apparent conflict of interest” while leading the DEA.
Cole, who leads an agency of more than 10,000 people tasked with fighting drug traffickers and criminal syndicates, has served in law enforcement for more than three decades, including much of that time at the DEA. From 2023 to 2025, he served as Virginia’s secretary of public safety and homeland security.
In addition to his current DEA position, which he assumed in July 2025 after a 50-47 Senate confirmation vote, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi tapped Cole in August 2025 to lead Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Force. Cole’s appointment unraveled in a matter of days amid a legal fight over whether the Trump administration could effectively seize control of the city’s police department.
In addition to Cole, several top Trump administration officials have made notable personal financial trades or deals during recent months.
They include FBI Director Kash Patel, Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta, Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor, Federal Highway Administration Administrator Sean McMaster, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler, former U.S. Agency for Global Media leader Kari Lake, Army Undersecretary Michael Obadal, Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Pedro Allende, Environmental Protection Agency Assistant Administrator Douglas Troutman and former Department of Health and Human Services general counsel Mike Stuart.
Trump himself has been the subject of significant scrutiny regarding the intersection of his personal finances and public service. The president has reported thousands of stock and bond trades during the past year and has routinely engaged in private crypto and other business ventures since returning to the White House in 2025.
Congress is actively considering banning federal lawmakers — but not yet executive branch officials — from buying individual stocks in the first place.
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