Do you think i would care for one second if obama and hillary co-owned a company that made a drug that would save my life and family members lives during a pandemic??.
I would hope you’d want to know if they had a financial interest in something they were publicly promoting regardless if it’s medicine or a new WiFi device. That doesn’t mean you don’t take their advice. It simply means you are aware of the potential conflict of interest.
Most definitely you should have cared. Proper disclosure is essential with all public officials.
when I worked for the state, I had an opportunity to investigate a company that a relative had worked at for decades. No one knew about it but me and some family members. My relative was retired and no longer employed. But since I worked for the public and I was charged with avoiding even the appearance of impropriety, I asked my manager to assign another person in our office because of the way it could look to the public.
I wasn’t doing anything special. That’s is what others in our department did too. That was the way I was trained and that’s what was required of me by basic ethics governing our department.
A few other scenarios in my public career required me to simply disclose a potential conflict of interest. I once was given a sample product at a company that was personally worthless to me, but did have market value of approx $100. I tried to turn it down repeatedly but it was clear it would offend my host. I called my boss from the parking lot of that business and disclosed it, then wrote it up on a disclosure form once back at the office and then I gave the product away to someone outside our department. The appearance didn’t look right. Again, nothing special but that’s what you do when you work for the public.
another time I was in Myrtle Beach on a company site and was offered a free BBQ lunch. It was a nice offer but I turned it down because the appearance didn't look right. Here I was doing an investigation and employees (as a public employee I essentially worked for them) could see me eating lunch with the bosses like we were long lost friends. NO, I didn't think they were bribing me with an $8 BBQ lunch. They were being friendly and receptive. But it might not look right so I went down the road and grabbed a sandwich and paid for it myself. As before, nothing special but its what I was expected to do working for the public. I expected it of myself, my bosses expected it of me, and I expected it of others that work for the public.
That's why so many things I see politicians at all levels, on all sides, bother me - because I know the little guys out there are largely doing the right thing -even when no one is watching.