Politics

Updated September 08, 2009

Report: Obama Nominee Failed to Report Ties to Biotech

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FOXNews.com

Dr. Tara O'Toole, who is awaiting confirmation as undersecretary of science and technology, did not report her position with the group called the Alliance for Biosecurity in a recent government ethics filing, according to a report. 

President Obama's pick to oversee bioterrorism at the Department of Homeland Security failed to report her role as an adviser for a lobbying group that has pushed for more money on anthrax vaccines and biodefense research, the Washington Times reported Tuesday.

Dr. Tara O'Toole, who is awaiting confirmation as undersecretary of science and technology, did not report her position with the group called the Alliance for Biosecurity, which is funded by the drug industry, in a recent government ethics filing, according to the newspaper.

The group reportedly spent over $500,000 lobbying Congress and federal agencies -- including Homeland Security -- since 2005.

But Homeland Security officials told the newspaper that O'Toole was not required to disclose her involvement with the alliance on ethics forms because the group is not incorporated.

"There's no legal existence so she wouldn't have to disclose it," Robert Coyle, an ethics official for the Department of Homeland Security, told the Washington Times.

Click here for more on this story from the Washington Times.

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