Fox Business:
Pelosi defends lawmakers, spouses trading stocks: ‘We’re a free-market economy’
The House speaker’s comments come as a recent report showed 49 members of Congress failed to report their financial trades
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed she doesn’t believe members of Congress and their spouses should be banned from trading individual stocks while serving in Congress.
“We’re a free market economy,” Pelosi explained in a press briefing. “They should be able to participate in that.”
But, she said, lawmakers should be disclosing their transactions in accordance with the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, commonly referred to as the STOCK Act, and other ethics rules.
The speaker’s comments come as a recent report from Insider revealed that 49 members of Congress failed to correctly report their financial trades as required by the STOCK Act.
Members of Congress have used excuses such as “ignorance of the law, clerical errors and mistakes by an accountant” for failing to properly comply, according to Insider. The list includes Democratic and Republican members.
