House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul dumped his stock in semiconductor firm Nvidia amid backlash just before the Senate passed the CHIPS bill to drum up 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, ahead of the vote on the CHIPS plus bill which would inject $52 billion into the semiconductor market. The move drew bipartisan backlash and renewed calls for a congressional stock ban.
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 with a total loss of $341,365, according to a periodic transaction report released Tuesday.
Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill said in a statement: 'Mr. Pelosi bought options to buy stock in this company more than a year ago and exercised them on June 17, 2022.'
'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,' he added.
The Senate passed the CHIPS bill Wednesday and the House is expected to pass it on Thursday.
Former Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said Thursday on CNBC Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband 'appear' to have taken advantage of insider information with Paul's many lucrative stock trades.
Responding to news that Democrats would soon release the framework for a long-awaited stock pan proposal, Fisher said on CNBC's Squawk Box: 'Clearly people have taken advantage of insider information forever. I'm not against their tapping that down. I'm sorry to see that Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi and others appear - all appearance right now we don't know the facts - to have taken advantage of insider information.'
'Something needs to be done.'
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Former Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said Thursday on CNBC that and Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband 'appear' to have taken advantage of insider information with Paul's many lucrative stock trades
The stock ban framework would force members of Congress, their spouses and senior staff to place assets in either a qualified blind trust or completely sell them off. Lawmakers, spouses and staff would still be able to hold mutual funds.
Leadership's goal is to get the legislation through the House in September, according to Punchbowl News.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who as head of the House Administration Committee has been tasked with reviewing the different proposals, told DailyMail.com on Friday the framework would be out 'in the coming weeks.'
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Last week congressional stock purchases were again under fire after Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul purchased over $1 million in shares of semiconductor firm Nvidia as Congress was negotiating the a bill to inject billions into the semiconductor chip industry
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On June 17 Paul Pelosi but 20,000 shares worth between $1 million and $5 million, ahead of the Sunday vote on the CHIPS plus bill which would inject $52 billion into the semiconductor market
'Has your husband ever made a stock purchase or sale based on information he's received from you?' a reported asked the speaker in her weekly briefing last week.
'No,' she scoffed. 'Absolutely not.' Pelosi then walked away from the podium.
The Pelosis are one of the wealthiest couples in Congress and Paul Pelosi has been dubbed 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 broad bipartisan consensus behind banning individual stock trades for members and their spouses. Lawmakers in both parties have put forth a slew of bills since Pelosi first expressed a cool openness to such a ban in February, not one of which has made it to the floor.
Last Wednesday Sen. Josh Hawley wrote a letter asking Democrats to hold a hearing on banning stock trading.
'This issue of whether and how Members of Congress engage in various financial transactions deserves scrutiny by the Committee,' Hawley wrote to Sen. Gary Peters, chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.
'In 2020 Speaker Pelosi and her husband outperformed the S&P 500 by a whopping 14.3 percent,' Hawley said. Ninety percent of actively managed investment funds fail to beat the market, according to a report.
After initial resistance, Pelosi changed tune in February and said she would get behind a stock ban if it was not just aimed at Congress but all of government.
'It has to be government-wide,' the California Democrat told reporters. 'The judiciary has no reporting. The Supreme Court has no disclosure. It has no reporting of stock transactions, and it makes important decisions every day.'
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'Has your husband ever made a stock purchase or sale based on information he's received from you?' a reported asked the speaker in her weekly briefing last week. 'No,' she scoffed. 'Absolutely not,' Pelosi said
It was not resounding support, but it was a change of tune from three months earlier when Pelosi was actively against cutting off her husband and the rest of Congress' stock trading power.
'We're a free market economy. '[Lawmakers] should be able to participate in that,' she said in December.
Despite broad support, some Democrats lay blame at leadership for stopping such bills from even getting a vote.
'The people who control the calendar don't want to bring it to the floor,' said Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., a moderate who authored a bipartisan proposal to force members to put their assets in a blind trust. 'The people who control committees of jurisdiction don't want to bring it to the floor.'
Paul Pelosi, owner of Financial Leasing Services, has amassed a personal fortune of around $135 million.
In 2021, the House Speaker is ranked as the 14th wealthiest member of Congress with an estimated net worth of at least $46,123,051, according to Insider.
Paul Pelosi's lucrative stock trades have prompted social investing app Iris allows users to track the couple's trades and be notified every time Paul makes a purchase so that they can do the same.
And popular Twitter account @NancyTracker, which tracked Pelosi's investments, was banned from the social media network.
The 2012 STOCK Act bans members of Congress from using 'any nonpublic information derived from the individual's position ... or gained from performance of the individual's duties, for personal benefit.'