The Pelosis are getting ready to race the music. The Speaker of the House and her husband Paul “appear to have taken advantage of inside information” in connection to stock trades, according to a former Federal Reserve Bank president.
Richard Fischer chaired the Federal Reserve of Dallas between 2005 and 2015. He said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” “Clearly people have taken advantage of inside information forever. I’m sorry to see that Paul Pelosi and Nancy Pelosi and others appear to have taken advantage of inside information. Something needs to be done.”
These comments from Fischer came after there was a Daily Caller News Foundation report that gave details of how Paul Pelosi sold up to $5 million worth of computer chips stock just before the Senate approved a bill that would supply billions of dollars to chip manufacturers.
According to Paul’s financial disclosure, he lost about $341,000 after the sale. He then bought up to $5 million worth in stock of Nvidia, one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies, according to a DCNF report.
Nvidia designs and manufactures graphics processors as well as other technology. The company is a multinational corporation that is very dependent on semiconductors.
Drew Hammill is the deputy chief of staff for Speaker Pelosi. He told the DCNF, “As always, he does not discuss these matters with the Speaker until trades have been made and required disclosures must be prepared and filed. Mr. Pelosi decided to sell the shares at a loss rather than allow the misinformation in the press regarding this trade to continue.”
Hamill also told the media that Paul Pelosi does not discuss these matters with the Speaker until trades have been made and required disclosures have been prepared and filed. He reiterated that Paul decided to sell the shares at a loss rather than allow the press to continue to focus on misinformation regarding the trade.
Those explanations are not enough for GOP Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri. He has kept the Pelosis’ actions under scrutiny for some time, and he recently sent a letter to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.).
The letter included a proposal to ban members of Congress and their spouses from insider stock trading. And it specifically cited Paul Pelosi’s purchase of Nvidia stock.
“It has been more than six months since members of this Committee proposed measures to put an end to inappropriate financial transactions. Despite these efforts, Speaker Pelosi and her husband remain undeterred from cashing in,” Hawley wrote in the letter.
Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J. is also concerned about the Pelosis’ activity with potential insider trading. During a telephone town hall last week, he was asked to respond to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband’s stock purchases.
“I’m concerned about that,” Malinowski said. “Again, it’s not for me to judge whether that’s a coincidence or something more than that. But I will tell you that I strongly believe that members of Congress should not be buying or selling stocks while they’re in Congress. I am a cosponsor of legislation that would prohibit that going forward.”
The only real response from Speaker Pelosi came during a news conference earlier this month, Pelosi said her husband does not make sales or purchase stock based on information she has.
This is all leading to House Democrats planning to bring a ban on members of Congress trading stocks. They will introduce a bill in August, according to Reuters.
This new legislation will also include spouses of members of the House as well as senior staff.
Speaker Pelosi’s office did not respond when asked for a comment about the legislation. She’s not usually at a loss for words.
