Annual Congressional trading reports show that Congress has made huge returns on investments in 2023, along with making some suspicious trades.
The report, published by Unusual Whales, showed that many members of Congress who engaged in stock trading profited significantly in 2023.
Some of these trades hint at corruption in Congress, with members of both parties gaining on trades in military companies shortly before the Israel-Hamas war broke out.
“Numerous members in Congress traded war stocks before the Israel-Gaza-Palestine conflict,” said Unusual Whales.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) received the best return on his war investments, profiting 16 percent, with Rep. Michael Guest (R-New Jersey), coming in second place with 11.8 percent returns on investments.
Rep. Gottheimer purchased $15,000 worth of stocks in defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp, on September 26, shortly before the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7th.
This transaction raises questions given Gottheimer’s position on the National Security Agency and Intelligence Committees.
Many members of Congress made huge profits by investing in Nvidia shortly before it was announced that the tech company could continue to export low-powered Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) chips following restrictions on the sale of similar chips to China.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and her husband, who also profited from the wars in Ukraine and Israel, invested millions in Nvidia shortly before the company announced its ability to avoid export regulations.
Rep. Pelosi had previously sold her Nvidia stock after she was accused of a conflict of interest.
“Pelosi has always been quite good at trading before news but to come back to a company she divested from due to conflicts before excellent news is quite stunning,” said Unusual Whales.
Some of Pelosi’s tech trades, worth nearly $1.9 million, were made while Congress was in session.
Rep. Brian Higgins (D-New York) profited the most out of any member of Congress, receiving a 238.9 percent return on his investments.
Rep. Higgins profited because of his large Nvidia holdings, which, unlike Pelosi, he purchased in 2021, not days before the company announced excellent news for its shareholders.
Rep. Pelosi and other Democrats are not the only ones who made suspicious trades in 2023.
Sen. Thomas Tuberville (R-Alabama) traded $250,000 on wheat, corn, soy, and cattle, while sitting on the Committee for Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Sen. Tuberville’s conflict of interest did not end with his agricultural trading.
He purchased $45,000 worth of stock in a small market-cap, biotech company named Humacyte on July 20th, in addition to a $50,000 buy of the stock in March of 2022.
The company, which produces products beneficial to Ukrainian combat surgery teams, surged by approximately 35% a month after Tuberville’s purchase.
Unusual Whales publishes an annual report on congressional trading, highlighting suspicious trades that suggest conflicts of interest.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="24374 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=24374">1 Comment
Why members of Congress are not required to place their personal investments in a blind trust during their seated tenure is beyond the pale. The trove of information available in advance to them on publicly traded companies provides an illegal and massive advantage for gains over the general investing public.