House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband dumped his shares in semiconductor company Nvidia amid a backlash just before the Senate passed CHIPS legislation to boost domestic semiconductor chip production, according to a periodic report released Tuesday.
On June 17, Paul Pelosi exercised call options to buy 20,000 shares worth between $1 million and $5 million before voting on the CHIPS plus bill that would bring $52 billion to the semiconductor market. The move drew bipartisan backlash and renewed calls for a congressional ban on stocks.
But on Tuesday, the day before the Senate passed the CHIPS bill, Paul Pelosi sold 25,000 shares of Nvidia at an average price of $165.05 for a total loss of $341,365, according to a Transaction Regular report published Tuesday has been published.
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said in a statement: “Mr. Pelosi purchased options to purchase shares of this company more than a year ago and exercised them on June 17, 2022.”
“As always, he does not discuss these matters with the spokesperson until deals have been made and the necessary disclosures have to 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 persist,” he added.
The Senate passed the CHIPS bill on Wednesday and the House of Representatives is expected to pass it on Thursday.
Former Dallas Federal Reserve Chairman Richard Fisher told CNBC spokesperson Nancy Pelosi and her husband Thursday that they “appear” to have exploited inside information involving Paul’s many lucrative stock deals.
Responding to the news that Democrats would soon release the framework for a long-awaited stock investment proposal, Fisher said on CNBC’s Squawk Box, “Obviously people have been exploiting inside information forever. I’m not against them knocking that down. I am sorry to see that Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi and others appear to have taken advantage of inside information.
“Something has to be done.”
Former Dallas Federal Reserve Chairman Richard Fisher said Thursday on CNBC that spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi and her husband “apparently exploited” inside information involving Paul’s many lucrative stock deals
The stock ban would force members of Congress, their spouses and officers to either place assets in a qualifying blind trust or sell them outright. Legislators, spouses, and employees could continue to hold mutual funds.
According to Punchbowl News, the goal of the leadership is to get the legislation through the House in September.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who has been tasked with reviewing the various proposals as head of the property management committee, told on Friday the framework would be released “in the coming weeks.”
Last week, Congress’ stock purchases came under renewed fire after Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, bought over $1 million worth of shares in semiconductor company Nvidia as Congress debated a bill to pump billions into the semiconductor chip industry to squirt
On June 17, Paul Pelosi surrendered 20,000 shares worth between $1 million and $5 million before Sunday’s vote on the CHIPS-Plus bill that would bring $52 billion to the semiconductor market
“Has your husband ever made a stock purchase or sale based on information he received from you?” a reporter asked the spokeswoman at her weekly briefing last week.
“No,” she scoffed. ‘Absolutely not.’ Pelosi then walked away from the podium.
The Pelosi are one of the wealthiest couples in Congress, and Paul Pelosi has been called one of the most prolific stock traders of all time. The Speaker’s office frequently notes that Nancy herself does not own any stock.
For months there has been a broad bipartisan consensus to ban individual stock transactions for members and their spouses. Lawmakers from both parties have tabled a slew of bills since Pelosi first expressed a cool openness to such a ban in February, none of which have made it to the bottom.
Last Wednesday, Senator Josh Hawley wrote a letter urging Democrats to hold a hearing on the stock trading ban.
“This question of whether and how members of Congress are involved in various financial transactions deserves consideration by the committee,” Hawley wrote to Sen. Gary Peters, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
“In 2020, speaker Pelosi and her husband have outperformed the S&P 500 by a whopping 14.3 percent,” Hawley said. According to one report, 90 percent of actively managed mutual funds fail to outperform the market.
After initial resistance, Pelosi changed her mind in February and said she would support a stock ban if it was directed not just against Congress but against the entire administration.
“It has to be statewide,” the California Democrat told reporters. “The judiciary has no reporting. The Supreme Court has no disclosure. It has no stock transaction reporting and makes important decisions every day.’
“Has your husband ever made a stock purchase or sale based on information he received from you?” a reporter asked the spokeswoman at her weekly briefing last week. “No,” she scoffed. “Absolutely not,” Pelosi said
It wasn’t resounding support, but it was a change in sentiment from three months earlier, when Pelosi was actively opposed to cutting off her husband and the rest of Congress’ stock-dealing power.
“We are a free market economy. ‘[Lawmakers] should be able to attend,” she said in December.
Despite widespread support, some Democrats blame the leadership for preventing such bills from even getting a vote.
“The people who control the calendar don’t want to give it a say,” said Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., a moderate who authored a bipartisan proposal to force members to invest their wealth in a blind trust . “The people who control the judiciary committees don’t want to have their say.”
Paul Pelosi, owner of Financial Leasing Services, has amassed a personal fortune of approximately $135 million.
In 2021, the Speaker of the House of Representatives will be ranked as the 14th richest member of Congress with an estimated net worth of at least $46,123,051, according to Insider.
Paul Pelosi’s lucrative stock trades have led to the social investing app Iris allowing users to follow the couple’s trades and get notified every time Paul makes a purchase so they can do the same.
And the popular Twitter account @NancyTracker, which tracked Pelosi’s investments, has been banned from the social media network.
The STOCK Act of 2012 prohibits Congressmen from “using for personal gain any non-public information obtained as a result of the person’s position … or obtained in the performance of the person’s duties.”
It also required lawmakers to publicly report all transactions in stocks, bonds, commodity futures and other securities within 45 days, rather than once a year.
Pelosi is far from alone in her husband’s stock trading — more than 220 other congressmen and senators, roughly 40% of Congress, collectively held at least $225 million in stock assets in 2020, according to an insider investigation.
An insider investigation found that from January to September 2021, 49 members and 182 congressional staffers disclosed trades late, thereby violating the STOCK Act.