Opinion: Insider trading among lawmakers should be outlawed

PHOTO: Graphic by Chris Kim

By Harald Tollerup

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

To keep the stock market fair, rules are put in place so that our parents, and someday us, have an equal opportunity to participate. So why aren’t our elected officials held to the same standard? 

Former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi whose husband Paul Pelosi is a technology and real-estate investor, sold between $25 million and $81 million dollars worth of stock between 2019 and 2021, according to a New York Times investigation. 

In my opinion, her husband’s business dealings bring up an obvious conflict of interest. Nancy Pelosi had access to a lot of information that you or I don’t have, including which regulatory legislation will affect company profits. Even if Nancy Pelosi did not purposely disclose non-public information, it is unreasonable to assume that she never chatted with her husband about the matters.

One law that attempted to prevent this was The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or STOCK Act. It was signed into law by the Obama Administration and was meant to penalize Members of Congress who overtly use insider information to get a leg up on the market. In theory the bill prevented insider trading but the reality was far from it.

The penalties were too small and proving that a congressperson used the information in the first place is impossible.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened countless unfruitful investigations. In 2020, three separate investigations into former Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, former Democratic Senator Dianne Fenstein and former Republican Senator Jim Inhofe were closed, according to the DOJ 

Investigations by various news outlets and independent organizations have found concrete links between congresspeople’s commitments and their stock trades. It is ironically Congress, the same people that perpetuate the crime, that have the power to stop it. According to a University of Maryland study, 86% of Americans favor a ban on congressional insider trading. Yet Congress has failed to deliver on the will of the people. Many bills have been introduced, all have failed. 

It’s insane that the civil servants who get access to classified information to protect us, can turn around and use that to make a profit. Lawmakers, the people elected to make the world a better place, are maintaining the status quo while quietly profiting from their status.   

Bills introduced in both the House and Senate attempted to confront the problem. The best and most complete solution is to place all of the congresspeople and their close relatives assets in a blind trust. This solution allows them to resist greed and focus on making the world a better place.