Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush told the Texas Tribune last week that he is looking to correct his disclosure forms after the publication discovered ties with at least 11 companies that Bush neglected to include in his records.

“Any perceived omission in my personal financial statement was unintentional, and I have never hesitated to amend or correct a report when necessary,” Bush was quoted by the Tribune. “My team and I view compliance with the statutes and rules of the [Texas Ethics Commission] as an important duty of an elected official, and monitor rule-making to maintain an understanding of state reporting guidelines, which we take very seriously."

The Texas Tribune discovered that Bush, son of former Florida governor Jeb Bush, was placed on the board of the now-bankrupt Cayman Islands oil and gas firm Arabella Exploration in 2014. The company rewarded him $43,000 for his services in addition to stock options equivalent to at least $100,000. By 2015, Bush had left Arabella for his current position, and used his other title as School Land Board Chair to approve a lease agreement with Arabella for West Texas oil and gas exploration.

Each year, state politicians must provide their personal finance details to the Texas Ethics Commission so that voters are able to determine if elected officials have any conflicts of interest. The Tribune discovered that Bush’s 2015 state disclosure failed to list his Arabella activity, as well as 10 other companies, most of which are also in the gas and oil industry.

Bush stated that that his Arabella activity is mentioned on the reports, and that he never owned any of the company’s shares or utilized any of the stock options he was given.

Former General Land Office employee Joe Gardner filed a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission last week due to being fired for what he claims was “highlighting accounting irregularities in connection with the agency’s oversight of the Alamo.” Gardner is now hoping to do the same with Bush’s irregularities.

“I would like for the Ethics Commission to review the complaint and find that the evidence I presented is true and that [Bush] is held accountable for the lack of transparency in his management of the General Land Office,” Gardner was quoted in the Tribune.

Bush has had history of leaving out certain financial information in his reports, as the Tribune also discovered that in 2018 he had used a legal loophole to conceal the location of a privately owned West Austin mansion and its mortgage loan from a multi-millionaire donor and banker, as well as failing to mention his wife was employed at one of the banker’s companies.

Texas law permits politicians from omitting specific details with very few consequences, as long as the mistakes are corrected within two weeks of initial discovery. Bush’s office told the Tribune that there was no specific reason Bush’s involvement with the outside companies was excluded in his reports.