5 months ago
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(NewsNation) — While Congress was debating whether oregon not to determination guardant with delivering connected President Trump’s “big, beauteous bill,” Democrats were demanding an probe into a connection helium made Wednesday.
Just hours earlier the president announced his 90-day tariff pause, helium posted this connected Truth Social: "THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT"
His authoritative announcement aboriginal sparked a marketplace surge, but 1 of Trump’s apical governmental rivals, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, is demanding an investigation.
“The question is, who knew what the president was going to do, and did radical astir the president commercialized banal knowing the unthinkable gyration the marketplace was astir to spell through?” Schiff said successful a video posted to societal media.
A White House spokesperson told Fox News that Democrats were playing partisan games.
"It is the work of the President of the United States to reassure the markets and Americans astir their economical information successful the look of nonstop media fearmongering," the spokesperson said.
Can Congress commercialized stocks?
Congressional banal trading has been astatine the halfway of statement for years. At slightest fractional a twelve bills person been introduced to prohibition oregon restrict members of Congress from playing the market, but thing has go law.
Right now, legislators are governed by the Stock Act of 2012. It requires members of Congress to study trades worthy much than $1,000 wrong 45 days.
Only 1 subordinate of Congress has reported trades since the president’s earlier tariff announcement connected April 2. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene has been disclosing trades wrong 2 to 3 days contempt the 45-day window.
In presumption of full trading volume, Greene came successful astatine conscionable implicit $1 million, putting her good down New Jersey Democrat Josh Gottheimer, who led the way. According to banal tracker Quiver Quantitative, his trades totaled immoderate $75 cardinal successful 2024.
Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California was second, conscionable shy of $40 million.
From required nationalist filings, Rep. Greene made 19 trades successful the 2 days aft April 2. All were purchases betwixt $1,000 and $15,000.
The congresswoman purchased banal successful large tech companies specified arsenic Amazon, Dell and Apple. She besides invested successful lululemon, UPS and FedEx.
Stocks that person gained the astir for Greene see Restoration Hardware, Lam Research and Dell; stocks that person declined see Nike and lululemon.
Congressional trading flunks odor test: Panelists
Two guests appearing connected “The Hill” on Thursday hold the optics of legislature trading tin astatine the precise slightest look inappropriate.
“I deliberation they should halt due to the fact that it conscionable looks wrong,” said Mick Mulvaney, a erstwhile Republican congressman who served successful President Trump’s archetypal administration. “Any lawyer who’s watching this present knows there’s a rule called the quality of impropriety. It doesn’t look good. It’s not illegal, but they shouldn’t beryllium doing it.”
Adam Hodge, a erstwhile spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, said it whitethorn adjacent look worse during the benignant of volatility that has precocious rocked the fiscal markets.
“People are going to commencement asking: Who knew what, when?” helium said.
Members of Congress could inactive enactment successful markets done unsighted trusts oregon communal funds, the panelists suggested.
“There’s truthful small credibility oregon religion successful the instauration close present this conscionable makes things worse,” Mulvaney said.
