Multiple congressional lawmakers, who are facing tough reelections in midterms, are making headlines for potentially violating congressional stock trading rules.
Reportedly, lawmakers from both parties are involved in controversial stock trading, which is urging their opponents to run campaigns against their shady business ambitions.
Bipartisan Lawmakers Violating Stock Trading Laws
One of the most controversial stock traders from Congress is Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, who is running for a hotly contested seat against Republican candidate Blake Masters in Arizona.
Kelly did not disclose his stock trading activities within the required time mentioned in the STOCK Act. He is allegedly involved in trading stocks of a technology firm with close connections to China.
Meanwhile, Kelly’s campaign told media outlets the senator did disclose his stock trading to the Senate Ethics Committee. However, records suggest Kelly’s disclosure did not include buying and selling of stocks.
This comes at a time when Kelly’s campaign claimed the senator is striving to bring more transparency to congressional rules so lawmakers do not get any unfair advantage in business activities using their official powers.
Likewise, Sarah Guggenheimer, the spokesperson of Kelly’s campaign, asserted Kelly is the only lawmaker who does not entertain corporate PAC money, which suggests he believes in ending corruption.
“One candidate accused of violating the STOCK Act is Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. . . [who] allegedly failed to disclose his exercising of stock options for a technology firm with ties to China within the time required in the STOCK Act.” https://t.co/YHex4QDmWk
— Ned Ryun (@nedryun) October 23, 2022
Big Corruption Happening in Congress
According to a legal expert, Delaney Marsco, the STOCK Act was introduced for two purposes.
Firstly, this act mandated lawmakers not to use any non-public information for stock trading. Secondly, Marsco continued, the STOCK Act urges lawmakers to report any stock trading within their family to Congress in 45 days.
Marsco added it is a common practice for lawmakers to not report their stock trading within 45 days; the lawmakers of both parties are equally violating that rule.
Many political campaigns target their opposite politicians for violating the Stock Act in their campaign ads.
For example, The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC of Republicans, is running an ad campaign against Democratic Congresswoman Susie Lee for her alleged involvement in $3 million worth of controversial stock trading during the pandemic.
I’ll keep working to show the American people that their Members of Congress work for them — not their own stock portfolios.
Thank you @RepDeSaulnier for joining our bipartisan TRUST in Congress Act to ban lawmakers from buying & selling individual stocks and #StopTheTrades.
— Rep. Abigail Spanberger (@RepSpanberger) October 17, 2022
Apart from that, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is also targeting Republican lawmakers for STOCK Act violations. As per the DCCC, Republican Congressman Steve Chabot did not disclose $30,000 in stock trading to the relevant authorities.
Chabot is also facing tough reelection against Democratic candidate Greg Landsman in Ohio.
Another Democratic congressman, Tom Malinowski did not disclose his $3.3 million of stock trading in the medical industry. Malinowski’s campaign asserted the lawmaker is committed to supporting the STOCK Act and already put all of his savings in a blind trust.
Marsco further added an overwhelming majority of Americans believe congressional lawmakers should be banned from stock trading, as they are most prone to violating the laws for personal gains.
In addition to that, Sean Patrick Maloney, the DCCC chair also failed to disclose stocks that he received from his late mother. Maloney is also facing a tough reelection next month in New York.
This article appeared in TheDailyBeat and has been published here with permission.
