Former President Joe Biden’s energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, received twice as much time to divest from conflicting companies before her tenure in the administration as Dr. Mehmet Oz, but the press coverage of Oz is far less generous.

The New York Times published two stories this month raising alarm about the celebrity doctor’s financial interests as he is poised to take charge of the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid programs. The most recent story out Monday chronicles, “How His Millions Collide With Medicare.”

“An examination by The Times of his myriad financial interests revealed not only opaque ties with the industries he may soon regulate but also a coziness with health care companies that lawmakers have already highlighted in questioning his independence,” the Times reported.

The paper referenced a recent financial disclosure filed by the Pennsylvania physician in the run-up to a Senate confirmation hearing for his nomination as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The hearing has yet to be scheduled, but the New York Times is giving Democrat senators ammunition to frame Oz, a long-time host of daytime television and failed Republican Senate candidate, as a snake oil salesman eager to exploit his regulatory role for record profit.

“He has made tens of millions of dollars hawking dietary supplements on his show and on social media, often without any mention of his financial interest. He has been paid by medical device firms and health-related ventures, and his money was invested in a dizzying array of businesses,” said the Times. “Many of those companies would be affected by any decisions he would make in the government post and many already benefit from agency funding.”

In his financial disclosure completed last week, however, Oz filed the standard pledge to divest from the myriad firms mentioned by the New York Times as a potential conflict. The CMS nominee listed the online supplement company, iHerb, first on the form with a promise to divest his holdings within 90 days of confirmation. But ethics “experts” quoted by the Times argued language in the document, “held open the possibility that even once he is at the helm of the agency, Dr. Oz might retain some iHerb stock until the company goes public or is bought.”

On the other hand, a Federalist analysis of the financial disclosure filed by recent Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm reveals the former Biden official’s pledge of divestment from the electric vehicle company, Proterra, was nearly identical. Except Granholm, whose holdings in Proterra became a scandal for the administration, gave herself 180 days, or twice as long, to leave her stock in the company.

“The Rip van Winkles at the New York Times have a lot to catch up on after their four-year nap,” said Michael Chamberlain, the director of the ethics watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust. “Biden Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm had similar financial interests in 2021, among them her status as a board member of the electric vehicle component manufacturer Proterra until her confirmation.”

Chamberlain told The Federalist that Granholm, “still held more than $1 million in Proterra stock options when President Biden and other administration officials promoted the company during a tour of its Greenville, SC plant.”

“Yet, the Times claims this provision in Dr. Oz’s agreement is ‘murky,’” Chamberlain told The Federalist. “To this day, the same newspaper, according to both Google and its own website, hasn’t seen fit to mention Ms. Granholm and Proterra in the same article.”

The House Oversight Committee opened an investigation into Granholm’s Proterra investments while the company was likely to rake in millions from the administration’s energy programs. President Biden personally promoted the company as his energy secretary still held lucrative shares of Proterra stock, in a glaring conflict of interest reported by the Washington Free Beacon.

Proterra declared chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 after receiving millions in state subsidies.