Misuse of Official Information occurs when a public servant uses information not made public to do which of the following?

• A. Acquire pecuniary interest in property, transaction, or enterprise that may be affected by the information
• B. Speculates or aids another to speculate on the basis of the information
• C. Coerces another into suppressing or failing to report that info to a law enforcement agency
• D. All of the above

Answer: (D)

Using information that isn’t public in a way that harms fairness or the public trust is the core idea. When a public servant knows something that could affect property or a deal and uses that knowledge to gain money or a pecuniary benefit, that’s misuse. If the information is used to speculate or to help someone else speculate on a value or transaction, that also counts as improper use of non-public data. Likewise, pressuring someone to hide or not report the information to law enforcement is another form of misuse, since it uses secrecy to evade accountability. Because each of these scenarios involves treating non-public information as a personal or obstructive tool, the best answer is all of the above.