Nancy Pelosi is back in the news yet again for scandalous stock trades. Last month, Pelosi and her husband bought long-term call options for over a million dollars worth of Tesla stock. Critics say this is a glaring conflict of interest as Pelosi is expected to push legislation that benefits electric car companies. Based on recent statements by Joe Biden, this legislation potentially includes massive government contracts for Tesla vehicles.
Pelosi and her husband also bought a million dollars worth of Alliance Bernstein stock last month. Now, Pelosi is calling for a congressional review of retail investing. This means that Pelosi could be directly involved in writing new rules to crack down on retail investors. This would financially benefit Alliance Bernstein, as they are an institutional investor.
Experts say that while it was not illegal for Pelosi and her husband to make these trades, it certainly raises serious ethical questions.
Yet, being at the forefront of scandalous investments by Congressmen is nothing new for Pelosi.
In 2011, an episode of 60 Minutes featuring Steve Kroft and Peter Schweizer detailed the scandalous nature of how some in Congress have gotten wealthy off investing. They detail an example from 2008. Pelosi and her husband purchased nearly a quarter million worth of VISA stock on March 18th, just as anti-credit card legislation passed a House committee and was gaining steam. Yet, the bill never made it to the floor for a full vote, and Pelosi’s investment quickly went up $100k in value in a matter of days.
Pelosi was Speaker of the House and had direct control over what legislation made it to the floor for a full vote. When Steve Kroft questions Pelosi, she is indignant and then describes herself as a champion in the fight against credit card companies. Yet, it took two more years for the anti-credit card legislation to come to the floor of the House, and that was only after the Senate had already passed it first. During this time frame, she continued buying even more stock in Visa!
Pelosi and her husband have an estimated net worth of over $100 million. Pelosi has been a “public servant” for thirty-three years, while her husband is a full-time investor.
