(WATCH) Pelosi Defends Lawmaker Stock Trades, Citing ‘Free Market’ (VIDEO)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said politicians should not be prohibited from trading stocks, a practice that has come under criticism since it allows members of Congress to profit from insider knowledge acquired through their official duties.
“We are a free market economy. They should be able to participate in that,” said the controversial Democrat. According to Pelosi’s husband holds tens of millions of dollars worth of stocks and options.
Pelosi has maintained for years that she has no involvement in or previous knowledge of her husband’s trading decisions and that she does not hold any shares of stock herself.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the subject of congressional stock trading has gained new prominence, as a series of suspiciously timed stock trades by members of both parties sparked public indignation and prompted various investigations.
According to the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, no one has been charged as a result of stock trading investigations that have been conducted to date.
However, the frequently lucrative trades serve to draw attention to the shortcomings of a 2012 statute known as the Stock Act, which prohibits members from using inside knowledge to make investment decisions and mandates that all stock trades be reported to Congress within 45 days.
A stock trading scandal resulted in the passage of the 2012 legislation, which had widespread bipartisan support. Despite this, no one has been prosecuted under it in the nearly ten years since it was passed, despite the fact that many members continue to trade in a suspicious manner.
Recently, some members of Congress were found to have completely failed to record their trades as required by law.
“We have a responsibility to report,” Pelosi said. “If people aren’t reporting they should be.”
When asked whether members of Congress and their spouses should be barred from trading stocks while serving in Congress, Pelosi responded by saying, “No,” noting that “this is a free market.”
Pelosi says she supports insider trading for Congress, cites the “free market”
— Jewish Deplorable (@TrumpJew2) December 15, 2021
Insider trading charges, according to legal experts, are extraordinarily difficult to prosecute since they need conclusive evidence that someone acted on nonpublic knowledge in order to make a stock purchase. That is contingent on showing intent, which is hard to prove.
In order to eliminate the temptation entirely, many ethics experts have argued for a prohibition on congressional stock trading completely.
In her most current financial statement, Nancy Pelosi reveals that her husband owns investments worth millions of dollars. This includes stock in Amazon and Apple, each of which is worth between $5 million and $25 million, respectively. She also reported holding Comcast stock worth between $1 million and $5 million and Visa stock worth between $5 million and $25,000. Also, her husband holds stock options in Google’s parent company worth between $1 million and $5 million.
