Bartholomew Hamilton Chilton (May 1, 1960 – April 27, 2019) was an American civil servant. He was Commissioner at the

Commodity Futures Trading Commission The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an independent agency of the US government created in 1974 that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, which includes futures, swaps, and certain kinds of options. The Commodity Exchange Ac ...

(CFTC) from 2007 to 2014. In April 2014, he joined

DLA Piper DLA Piper is a Multinational corporation, multinational law firm with offices in over 40 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In 2021, it had a total revenue of US$3.47 billion, an average prof ...

as a Senior Policy Advisor. He was the author of the investment fraud book, ''Ponzimonium: How Scam Artists Are Ripping Off America''. Chilton was a vocal supporter of position limits in commodities markets. He exposed manipulation practices in commodities markets and went on record as wanting to prosecute violations of law, which he believed had taken place in the silver market.

Early life

Chilton was born in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

,Bart Chilton biography
CFTC official website. Retrieved May 7, 2011 and grew up in

Ogden Dunes, Indiana Ogden Dunes is a town in Portage Township, Porter County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan, within Indiana Dunes National Park and nearly surrounded by the city of Portage. The population was 1,110 at the ...

.CFTC's Energy-Industry Gadfly Gets His Way"
''The Wall Street Journal'' (June 12, 2010). Retrieved May 8, 2011 His father and both grandfathers were engineers. His father, a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

ed a way to create a self-standing artificial Christmas tree.

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

's Thomas H. Chilton Laboratory in Wilmington, Delaware, is named for his grandfather, a

chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...

who worked there. Jess M. Bartholomew, Chilton's namesake, was an electrical engineer at the Joy Manufacturing Company in Michigan City, Indiana. His great-great-grandfather was

William Parish Chilton William Parish Chilton (August 10, 1810 – January 20, 1871) was an American politician and author who served as a Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862. Early life Called Will Chilton, he ...

George E. Holbrook
Biography of Thomas Hamilton Chilton
''Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering'', Vol. 1, pp. 19-25 (1979). The National Academies Press. Retrieved May 9, 2011 and his great-great-uncle was

Thomas Chilton Thomas Chilton (July 30, 1798 – August 15, 1854) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, a prominent Baptist clergyman, and the ghost writer of David Crockett's autobiography. Born near Lancaster, Kentucky, a son of Rev. Thomas John Chilton ...

, who both served in government. After high school, Chilton worked at a

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finishe ...

for a year, arguing later that the experience convinced him that someone had to look out for "the little guy". He began attending

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mon ...

in 1979, majoring in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

but left one semester before graduating to work on

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa * Botswana Democratic Party * Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *De ...

1984

political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracy, democracies, political campaigns often refer to election, electoral campaigns, by which representatives a ...

Government career

Chilton worked in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from 1985 to 1995, where he was legislative director for three members of Congress and was the executive director of the Congressional Rural Caucus. He later worked in the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...

during the Bill Clinton and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

administrations, where he became the deputy chief of staff to

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organ ...

Dan Glickman Daniel Robert Glickman (born November 24, 1944) is an American politician, lawyer, lobbyist, and nonprofit leader. He served as the United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1995 until 2001, prior to which he represented as a Democrat in Cong ...

and served as a liaison to the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

. From 2001 to 2005, he was a senior advisor to Senator

Tom Daschle Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 an ...

. In 2005, he went to the

Farm Credit Administration The Farm Credit Administration is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States. Its function is to regulate the financial institutions that provide credit to farmers. Authority The Farm Credit Administration is an indepen ...

, where he was an executive assistant to the board, afterward becoming chief of staff and vice president for governmental relations at the National Farmers Union, representing family farmers. Chilton was one of the five CFTC commissioners from August 2007, when he was confirmed by the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

after having been nominated by President Bush. He was the chairman of the CFTC’s Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee. He was re-nominated by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

and re-confirmed by the Senate in 2009. In his first official remarks as a new commissioner on the CFTC, Chilton made clear his support for market regulation and has, since joining the CFTC, worked for the implementation of position limits. In early 2010, he was contacted by

Andrew Maguire Gene Andrew Maguire (born March 11, 1939) is an American politician who served three terms as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing New Jersey's 7th congressional district (western Bergen County) from 1 ...

, who detailed fraud taking place in the

precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lustre ...

s markets.Eric King
Interview with Andrew Maguire and GATA board member Adrian Douglas
King World News (March 30, 2010). Retrieved May 6, 2011
King World News (January 26, 2010 - February 9, 2010). Retrieved May 4, 2011 Chilton had one of the senior investigators from the CFTC's enforcement division contact Maguire. Maguire shared information in an hour-long telephone interview and detailed e-mails. Maguire accurately predicted a manipulative event in the silver

futures market A futures exchange or futures market is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized futures contracts defined by the exchange. Futures contracts are derivatives contracts to buy or sell specific quantities of a commodity or f ...

, notifying Chilton and the investigator two days in advance and sending additional e-mails while it was taking place, pointing out important data. Chilton believed violations of law have taken place in the silver futures marketAsjylyn Loder and Pham-Duy Nguyen
"Silver Subject to Price Manipulation, Chilton Says"
Bloomberg (October 26, 2010). Retrieved May 7, 2011 and said he wanted to see prosecutions.William D. Cohan
"A Conspiracy With a Silver Lining"
''The New York Times'' (March 2, 2011). Retrieved May 7, 2011 Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee board member Adrian Douglas referred to Chilton "the modern-day equivalent of

Eliot Ness Eliot Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent known for his efforts to bring down Al Capone and enforce Prohibition in Chicago. He was the leader of a team of law enforcement agents, nicknamed The Untouchables. H ...

". On April 15, 2011, Chilton issued a statement against legislation to delay the financial regulatory reforms in the Dodd-Frank Act. In July 2013, Chilton replaced outgoing Commissioner Jill Sommers as Chair of the Global Markets Advisory Committee (GMAC).

Media career

Chilton joined

RT America RT America was a U.S.-based news channel headquartered in Washington, D.C. Owned by TV Novosti and operated by production company T&RProductions, it was a part of the RT network, a global multilingual television news network based in Moscow fund ...

in 2018 as host of Russian network's financial television show ''Boom Bust''.

Death

Chilton died from complications of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of panc ...

on April 27, 2019, at a hospital in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

Personal life

Chilton was married to Sherry Daggett Chilton, and in his last years lived in

Gulf Breeze, Florida Gulf Breeze is a city in Santa Rosa County, Florida. It is a suburb of Pensacola, and is in the Pensacola Metropolitan Area. The population estimate was 6,900 in 2020. Gulf Breeze is located just north of Pensacola Beach, and south of Pensacol ...

.Obituary for Bart Chilton, Financial Times, April 29, 2019. https://www.ft.com/content/dad2acee-6a57-11e9-80c7-60ee53e6681d A distinctive figure in his political and media career, he sported shoulder-length blond hair and liked to wear

cowboy boot Cowboy boots are a specific style of riding boot, historically worn by cowboys. They have a high heel that is traditionally made of stacked leather, rounded to pointed toe, high shaft, and, traditionally, no lacing. Cowboy boots are normally ma ...

References

External links

Complete list of Chilton's speeches as CFTC commissioner
Commodity Futures Trading Commission, official website. Retrieved May 9, 2011
BartChilton.com
Personal website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chilton, Bart 1960 births 2019 deaths Commodity Futures Trading Commission personnel Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Deaths from pancreatic cancer Delaware Democrats Obama administration personnel People from Gulf Breeze, Florida People from Porter County, Indiana People from Wilmington, Delaware Purdue University alumni George W. Bush administration personnel