Buchanan sold off his BP stock after oil spill

We still don't have a final estimate of Rep. Vern Buchanan's net worth last year, but OpenSecrets.org has discerned one interesting nugget:

Buchanan was one of several congressman last year who sold off their holdings in BP after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

In 2009, Buchanan's stock in BP was worth between $31,003 and $115,000. (Members of Congress are required only to report their holdings in broad ranges.)

At the end of 2010, Buchanan had no stock in BP.

OpenSecrets.org reports:

High-ranking congressmen made a concerted effort to financially distance themselves from BP in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, either by reducing or altogether dumping their stock holdings, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of lawmakers' personal financial disclosure documents released Tuesday.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) gave up all or a significant amount of their holdings in BP after the 2010 spill, which leaked an estimated 205 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico and killed 11 oil platform crew members in the initial explosion.

Boehner, who in 2009 reported owning BP stocks valued between $15,001 and $50,000, sold all of his holdings sometime in 2010. His documents do not disclose specific dates of his transactions.

And Kerry, who in 2009 owned BP assets valued between $351,003 and $765,000 -- the most of any congressmen that year -- sold hundreds of thousands in a string of transactions between the months of April and May when the spill occurred. During his two transactions in May, he sold between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of his holdings each time.

As BP tries to make its way back into politics, contributions from its political action committee have often been labeled as "toxic," and many congressmen have refused to accept money associated with the company.

(Hat tip to The Buzz.)