Donald Trump, among other things, just went viral for calling out Nancy Pelosi for insider trading.
Trump questioned how a career politician earning a $200,000 salary could be worth almost half a billion dollars.
The answer is simple: Insider trading.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress are either the luckiest people on the planet, who know exactly when to buy or sell their assets, or they’re gaming the system.
Trump Stirs Controversy Over US Insider Trading
In 2022, when asked about a proposed ban on Congress members and their spouses holding and trading stocks while in office, Nancy Pelosi had this to say:
“This is a free market, and people — we are a free market economy,” Pelosi said during a weekly press conference. “They should be able to participate in that.”
Okay, fine. The problem is Senator, when you push meaningful financial legislation, you’re setting the stage for America’s businesses, stock traders, and the whole economic landscape. You create the rules of the game.
BREAKING: Former President Trump has just called on Nancy Pelosi to be prosecuted for insider trading. pic.twitter.com/y36eaxnKTX
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) September 26, 2024
Since then, numerous insider trading accusations have been brought against everyone except members of Congress:
- u/deepfuckingingvalue: Keith Gill of the GameStop saga was questioned over insider trading, even as recent as this year, when he returned to Reddit and GME shares skyrocketed by 21.11%.
- Elon Musk: Charges against Elon for pumping Dogecoin were also only recently dropped, even though he has no part in creating the financial system like US congress
- Martha Stewart: Who could forget this one? RIP.
- Sen. Richard Burr: Who is this guy? He’s another senator who made sketchy trades before Covid happened, and of course, insider trading allegations against him were dropped
Call it stock manipulation if you want, but when a former insurance salesman like Gill goes toe-to-toe with the kleptocrats running our trading system and is subject to discussion of being banned, it reeks of hypocrisy.
The Hypocrisy of Political Insider Trading Will Not Stop in 2024
Unusual Whales, a Twitter account renowned for tracking Congressional trades, noted earlier this year that the battle against insider trading has worsened since 2020:
“For reference, Congress has direct oversight over the entire market, as well as rule over individual companies who also lobby to them,” pointed out Unusual Whales.”Congress, despite conflicts, trade these companies and have consistently outperformed the market since 2020. I hear little noise from media on this issue though.”
Armed with confidential information, lawmakers buy and sell stocks, creating massive conflicts of interest.
Nancy Pelosi, for instance, has blocked bills that would’ve hurt Visa’s stock price after her husband loaded up on them before the IPO. Her husband also exercised $2 million in Microsoft options before the company landed a huge contract with the US Army to provide high-tech headsets.
The STOCK Act of 2012 was supposed to stop Congress from trading on insider info by forcing them to disclose their trades. Yet, nothing has changed.
To date, Senator Burr, Kelly Loeffler, Dianne Feinstein, and many others have abused this law.
The argument against this practice is simple: if Keith Gill, Elon Musk, and freaking Martha Stewart can be targeted, politicians with power should be held to stricter standards.
Let’s keep making noise on this.
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