So here we are: nobody respects the STOCK Act.
Connecticut Senator and Communist sympathizer Richard Blumenthal is worth more than $100 million dollars. And of course he is —making money is easy when you’re privy to insider information and run the Pelosi Playbook™. So what did Richie do this time?
According to the Washington Free Beacon, Blumenthal and his wife Cynthia bought and sold shares of the stock trading app Robinhood while the Senator called for Congress to investigate the stock trading platform.
“Blumenthal disclosed that he and his wife sold between $1,265,000 and $2,550,000 worth of shares of Robinhood in the last quarter of 2021. At the time, Blumenthal joined a chorus of lawmakers in calling for investigations into Robinhood’s role in supporting a speculation frenzy involving shares of GameStop,” WFB reports.
Blumenthal never actually took any action, of course. He could have as chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection. But he didn’t. Nothing from Rich.
While manipulating the stock market with calls for investigations, Rich also violated a federal law that requires members of Congress to disclose their stock trades within 45 days —AKA the STOCK Act. “The Blumenthals sold between $265,000 and $550,000 worth of Robinhood shares on Dec. 8 but did not disclose it until 56 days later,” WFB reports.
Blumenthal’s take was estimated at $500,000.
Here’s the good news —this blatant abuse of power for personal gain may soon be at an end, as multiple bills are making their way through the halls of Congress to restrict lawmakers from mixing it up on Wall Street. —and they’re coming from both sides of the aisle.
“U.S. Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) introduced legislation to ban members of Congress and their families from buying and selling stocks while in office. In a move widely praised by good government groups across the political spectrum, the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act will require all members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children to place their stock portfolios into a blind trust — ensuring they cannot use inside information to influence their personal stock trades and make a profit.”
Across the aisle, Senator Josh Hawley (R-AR) has a bill of his own:
“One of the most basic things that we should be able to expect is that people who serve in Congress will be focused on actually doing what the people want and not on lining their own pockets. That is why we have introduced the Banning Insider Trading in Congress Act. This legislation will prohibit members of Congress and their spouses from holding, acquiring or selling stocks during their tenure in elected office,” Hawley wrote in a statement.
Speaker Pelosi, perhaps the biggest Wall Street operator in the history of Congress, says she’s open to it —but it has to be “governmentwide.”
“It has to be governmentwide,” she said, adding, “the judiciary has no reporting. The Supreme Court has no disclosure. It has no reporting of stock transactions, and it makes important decisions every day.”
Sounds good, Nancy. Get it done.
