News broke Wednesday that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pelosi-dumped-google-stock-weeks-before-justice-department-unveiled-antitrust-lawsuit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disclosed</a> the sale of between $1.5 million and $3 million worth of shares in Google&#8217;s parent company, Alphabet, just a few weeks before the Department of Justice announced an antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant.
Nancy and her husband Paul, who is often the person actually making the trades, have been accused multiple times in the past of using her position in the federal government to make advantageous moves in the stock market. The couple <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pelosis-husband-makes-big-tech-stock-moves-again-places-6-million-bet-as-congress-looks-to-rein-in-silicon-valley" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sold</a> their Nvidia stock, albeit at a loss, right before the U.S. government announced new restrictions on the sale of computer chips to China and Russia, while Paul bought $6 million in tech options as Congress debated antitrust measures against Big Tech companies.
Coincidentally, the day before the news broke about the Pelosis&#8217; stock trades, Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sen-hawleys-insider-trading-bill-returns-to-congress-under-new-title-pelosi-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reintroduced</a> The Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act, otherwise known as the PELOSI Act. The bill, first introduced in 2022, would prohibit members of Congress or their family members from holding or trading individual stocks. Any existing investments would have to be divested or placed in a blind trust for the duration of the lawmaker&#8217;s tenure in office.
A <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/06/08/fact-check-meme-partly-false-millionaires-u-s-congress/7589391002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">majority</a> of congresspeople are millionaires, and while most were already wealthy before entering Congress, they also tend to have success on the stock market while in office. Although there have been many efforts to rein in congressional stock trading, Hawley&#8217;s newest push has brought the issue back into the spotlight.
Many congresspeople were already wealthy and held considerable assets before they entered politics. Members of Congress tend to come from professional fields that are relatively lucrative — think doctors and lawyers. Some are extremely successful business owners who made the jump over to politics.
For example, Republican California Rep. Darrell Issa is currently the richest person in Congress, with an <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/now/5-richest-members-congress-130042592.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimated</a> net worth of $460 million as of September 2022. Before entering the House, Issa made a fortune in the car alarm business in the 1990s. Similarly, the top three richest senators, Rick Scott (R-FL), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Mitt Romney (R-UT) were all successful in private business before attaining public office.
But that doesn&#8217;t mean lawmakers don&#8217;t expand their wealth while in office. In fact, some have seen massive gains thanks to fortuitous moves on the stock market.
In 2021, members of Congress and their family members <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sat-members-of-congress-and-their-families-traded-over-630-million-in-stocks-this-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">purchased</a> $267 million in assets while sales amounted to $364 million.
On average in 2021, Congress beat the market, <a href="https://unusualwhales.com/politics/article/full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to an analysis by Unusual Whales. SPY, the exchange traded <a href="https://www.investors.com/news/spy-stock-buy-now/#:~:text=What%20Is%20SPY%20Stock%3F,trillions%20in%20dollars%20of%20investment." target="_blank" rel="noopener">fund</a> that owns all of the stocks on the S&amp;P 500 and one of the most important market measures for investors, saw a return of 13.6%. Meanwhile, both House Democrats and Republicans saw an average return of 14.7% and Senate Democrats saw a return of 15.4%. Only Senate Republicans failed to beat the SPY, with a 13% average return. One congressman saw a return of almost 800%.
Members of Congress have not only been fortunate in picking winning stocks, but they have also had a lot of luck in selling stocks — note the Pelosi example above — just in the nick of time to avoid massive losses. This level of success has attracted allegations of insider trading, i.e. using knowledge gained from their work in the federal government that is unavailable to normal Americans to make advantageous trades.
Four senators were <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/politics/richard-burr-stocks-sold-coronavirus.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> of such malfeasance in the early days of the COVID pandemic. Former Republican Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia sold millions worth of stock after a closed-door briefing on the possible impacts of the coronavirus. Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), David Perdue (R-GA), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) also dumped stock in the early weeks of the pandemic.
The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission launched investigations into possible insider trading by the five lawmakers. All of the inquiries were <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/us/politics/richard-burr-stock-trades-investigation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dropped</a> by January 2021. An Insider investigation found that many other Congress members bought or sold stock in vaccine manufacturers Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson &amp; Johnson during the pandemic.
Between 2019 and 2021, 97 members of Congress — almost 20% of all lawmakers in the Legislative Branch — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/09/13/us/politics/congress-members-stock-trading-list.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that they made stock trades in companies that were influenced by their committees, according to an analysis by The New York Times.
There are already laws on the books to prevent insider trading, most notably the STOCK Act passed in 2012. A critical part of the law requires members of Congress to promptly disclose any stock trades made by them or close family members. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-senate-house-trading-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According</a> to an Insider report from early January, 78 members of Congress have recently failed to comply with the law and properly disclose stock trades, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-senate-house-trading-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to an Insider report from early January.
Congresspeople who violate the law face a fine, but it is usually only $200 and the penalty has been waived altogether several times by the House Ethics Committee. Two current members of the eight-person Ethics Committee were <a href="https://ethics.house.gov/about/committee-members" target="_blank" rel="noopener">identified</a> in the Times analysis as having traded stocks in companies influenced by their committees and were among the 78 lawmakers who failed to comply with the STOCK Act.
“For too long, politicians in Washington have taken advantage of the economic system they write the rules for, turning profits for themselves at the expense of the American people,” Hawley said of the PELOSI Act in a <a href="https://twitter.com/abigailmarone/status/1617934984568012800" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a>. Lawmakers who violate the proposed act would be forced to forfeit any profits from the investments to the American people and lose the ability to write off any losses on their taxes.
The first iteration of Hawley&#8217;s bill, which lacked the acronymic jab at the former House Speaker, stalled in the Democrat-controlled House in 2022. Democrats also scrapped another proposal to regulate lawmakers&#8217; stock trades just a few days before the 2022 midterms elections, with then-House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/finance/3667251-democrats-scrap-plan-to-vote-on-stock-trading-ban-before-elections/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claiming</a> that there wasn&#8217;t enough time for representatives to study the proposal.
Almost simultaneously with Hawley, Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3810797-bipartisan-duo-reintroduces-bill-banning-members-of-congress-family-from-trading-individual-stocks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> a bill banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks for the third time. They previously introduced the bill in 2020 and 2021.
Given the poor track record of bills regulating congressional stock trading, both in getting passed and actually being enforced, chance of meaningful reform is dim. And in the meantime, members of Congress will most likely continue to beat the market.

House Speaker Pelosi Holds Weekly News Conference

Josh Hawley’s PELOSI Act Turns Spotlight On How Members Of Congress Regularly Beat The Stock Market

Josh Hawley's PELOSI Act Turns Spotlight On How Members Of Congress Regularly Beat The Stock Market

Congress

Josh Hawley

Nancy Pelosi

Politics

Readers Pass

U.S.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down on Thursday the special master&#8217;s review of the documents seized by the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi">FBI</a> during a raid on former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump">Donald Trump&#8217;s</a> home.
The unanimous ruling sided with the Department of Justice and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/01/us/politics/trump-special-master.html">found</a> that Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, did not have the jurisdiction to appoint a special master to review the case.
&#8220;We agree with the government that the district court improperly exercised equitable jurisdiction, and that dismissal of the entire proceeding is required,” the court&#8217;s ruling <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/11th-cir/eb9858de31042399/full.pdf">said</a>.
The panel also reaffirmed that judicial interference in the early stages of DOJ investigations should only take place in &#8220;extraordinary&#8221; situations — a standard that they argued had not been met.
“It is indeed extraordinary for a warrant to be executed at the home of a former president – but not in a way that affects our legal analysis or otherwise gives the judiciary license to interfere in an ongoing investigation,” according to the panel.
The judges also argued that Cannon&#8217;s order represented a violation of the separation of powers. They argued that the &#8220;extraordinary&#8221; circumstances standard &#8220;guards against needless judicial intrusion into the course of criminal investigations — a sphere of power committed to the executive branch.”
The panel included George W. Bush appointee William Pryor, as well as two judges appointed during Trump&#8217;s tenure in office, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/01/trump-mar-a-lago-special-master">according</a> to Axios.
Cannon&#8217;s order from early September <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/insider/2022/09/09/do-special-masters-really-trump-taint-teams-heres-a-better-option/?sh=18412be52ad9">appointed</a> a special master to determine if any of the over 11,000 documents taken from Mar-a-Lago fell under executive privilege. He was also given the power to serve as a mediator between the DOJ and Trump.
Trump&#8217;s legal team argued that a special master was necessary because some of the documents seized by the FBI were protected by executive privilege or attorney-client privilege, because Trump had the power to declassify the documents, and because the DOJ&#8217;s own dedicated privilege team did not have adequate &#8220;protocols&#8221; for this case, according to the ruling.
Cannon <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-names-trump-pick-for-special-master-denies-doj-request-to-limit-review">appointed</a> Raymond Dearie, a senior U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of New York, to serve as special master in the case after Trump&#8217;s team proposed his appointment and the DOJ agreed.
Trump&#8217;s legal team has reportedly not yet decided whether to appeal the ruling.
The court&#8217;s ruling removes a barrier to the DOJ&#8217;s criminal investigation into whether Trump mishandled classified U.S. government records.
The DOJ <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-responds-to-doj-tapping-special-counsel-to-handle-two-of-its-criminal-investigations-into-him">announced</a> on November 18 that Jack Smith, who has spent years at the International Criminal Court in The Hague prosecuting war crimes, will serve as the special counsel overseeing two of the department&#8217;s criminal investigations into Trump — including the investigation into the Mar-a-Lago documents.
Trump told Fox News in an exclusive interview after the announcement that he would not &#8220;partake in&#8221; the investigation.
“It is unfair to the country, to the Republican Party, and I don’t think people should accept it,” he added. “I am not going to accept it.”
Trump then asked why a special prosecutor had not been appointed in the DOJ&#8217;s criminal investigation of Hunter Biden.
“Why isn’t there a special counsel being set up for them?” Trump asked of Hunter and his father, President Joe Biden. “Tremendous corruption, they’re corrupt people, they’re criminals. I’ve done nothing wrong. They participated in massive criminal activity with many other nations.”

Former President Donald Trump Makes Announcement At Mar-A-Lago

Court Blocks Special Master Review Of Mar-A-Lago Documents

Courts

Donald Trump

Mar-a-Lago

Sen. Mark <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-kelly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kelly</a> (D-AZ) said during an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/21/mark-kelly-interview-border-bipartisanship-strong-gop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with the Washington Post that members of his party are &#8220;not even close&#8221; to understanding the problems on the U.S. southern <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/southern-border" target="_blank" rel="noopener">border</a>.
&#8220;Absolutely not. Not even close,&#8221; the incumbent senator said when asked if members of his party understood &#8220;the complexity of the issue and the frustrations that people have.&#8221;
&#8220;When I first got to Washington, it didn’t take me long to realize that there are a lot of Democrats who don’t understand our southern border and a lot of Republicans who just want to talk about it. Don’t necessarily want to do anything about it, just want to use it politically. So my approach has been — to the extent that we could and can — to make progress on securing it, but also doing it in a way that’s in accordance with our ethics and our values, not to demonize people,&#8221; Kelly added.
In the interview published Monday, Kelly advocated a middle-of-the-road approach to border issues, saying he wants to secure the border but not in a way that would &#8220;demonize people.&#8221; He did not elaborate much further on how he would secure the border beyond, &#8220;We have to do more in border security. We have to do more in comprehensive immigration reform, especially &#8216;dreamers,&#8217; but also these visa programs. If you’re a farmer, especially in Southern Arizona, despite having a ready supply of eager workers, you don’t have the visas available and it’s a problem for them.&#8221;
The Department of Homeland Security recently <a href="https://www.fox4news.com/news/gov-greg-abbott-invokes-invasion-clauses-in-border-security-push">reported</a> that nearly 2.4 million immigrants had been detained on the U.S. southern border during the fiscal year ending in September. That number represented a 37% increase from the previous fiscal year. Additionally, Customs and Border Protection <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters">announced</a> over 230,000 encounters with migrants at the southern border during October alone.
Last week, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-blocks-use-of-title-42-to-expel-migrants-at-border">blocked</a> the further use of Title 42, which allows the government to deport migrants from the border in the interest of public health. Title 42 had been activated during the Trump administration to expel migrants entering the country during the COVID pandemic.
Kelly first entered the Senate after defeating Republican candidate Martha McSally in the race for the open Arizona seat previously held by the late John McCain. The senator is <a href="http://dailywire.com/news/breaking-democrat-incumbent-mark-kelly-defeats-republican-blake-masters-in-arizona-senate-race-projection">projected</a> to win his first full term after defeating Republican candidate Blake Masters by almost five points in the recent midterm election.
Compared to many others in the Democratic Party, Kelly has taken a relatively moderate stance on the border. He <a href="https://www.kelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-kelly-and-colleagues-introduce-bipartisan-bill-to-raise-border-patrol-pay-create-border-patrol-reserve/">teamed</a> up with retiring Republican Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, fellow Democratic Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, and Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford back in August to introduce a bill that would raise Border Patrol agents&#8217; pay as well as create a 2,500-agent border reserve force.
Kelly has also expressed his support for a pathway to citizenship for those protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), also known as &#8220;Dreamers.&#8221;
&#8220;DACA needs to be protected. But it doesn’t change the fact that Congress must act to provide Dreamers with the certainty of a clear pathway to citizenship,&#8221; Kelly <a href="https://twitter.com/senmarkkelly/status/1442561227008393224">tweeted</a> in September 2021.

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Sen. Mark Kelly Warns Democrats ‘Absolutely’ Do Not Understand Border Issues

Sen. Mark Kelly Warns Democrats 'Absolutely' Do Not Understand Border Issues

Arizona

Immigration

Mark Kelly

A spokesperson for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she would &#8220;address her future plans&#8221; on Thursday after Republicans are projected to win a slim majority in the House of Representatives.
&#8220;<a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1cvl2hr r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" dir="ltr" role="link" href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi">@SpeakerPelosi</a> has been overwhelmed by calls from colleagues, friends and supporters. This evening, the Speaker monitored returns in the three remaining critical states. The Speaker plans to address her future plans tomorrow to her colleagues. Stay tuned,&#8221; Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill <a href="https://twitter.com/Drew_Hammill/status/1593088408112738304">wrote</a> Wednesday night on Twitter.
The announcement comes after a better-than-expected performance for Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections. Though pre-election polling and punditry suggested that a &#8220;red wave&#8221; would sweep Republicans into power in both houses of Congress, Democrats were able to prevail in several high-profile Senate contests to keep control of that chamber, and Republicans are projected to win only a slim majority in the House.
Currently, Democrats are <a href="https://results.decisiondeskhq.com/national/2022-senate">projected</a> to hold 50 seats in the Senate (with Vice President Kamala Harris providing a tie-breaking vote), while the GOP is <a href="https://results.decisiondeskhq.com/national/2022-house">predicted</a> to have a majority in the House, according to Decision Desk HQ. Several House races remain uncalled, and a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-georgia-senate-race-moves-to-runoff">runoff</a> between incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican candidate Herschel Walker for Georgia&#8217;s Senate seat will take place in December.
&#8220;This year, House Democrats defied expectations with an excellent performance: running their races with courage, optimism and determination.  In the next Congress, House Democrats will continue to play a leading role in supporting President Biden’s agenda — with strong leverage over a scant Republican majority,&#8221; Pelosi <a href="https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/111622-0">said</a> in a press release Wednesday.
Several younger Democrats in the House, including New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, have aspirations of replacing Pelosi as the top Democrat in the chamber, <a href="https://www.politico.com/playbook">according</a> to Politico. However, President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have both asked Pelosi to stay in leadership after the midterm election results, the outlet noted.
Republican leaders in both the House and Senate were able to hold onto their positions after the party&#8217;s lackluster midterm performance. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy won the Republican <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kevin-mccarthy-wins-gop-nomination-for-house-speaker-over-conservative-protests">nomination</a> for House Speaker on Tuesday, beating challenger Andy Biggs (R-AZ) in a 188-31 vote.
Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mitch-mcconnell-keeps-hold-on-senate-gop-knocks-back-challenge-from-rick-scott">re-elected</a> Wednesday despite a challenge from Florida Sen. Rick Scott. The vote was 37 for McConnell and 10 for Scott, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/politics/senate-republican-leadership-vote-meeting">according</a> to CNN.
The speaker has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/07/us-house-speaker-pelosi-says-attack-on-husband-will-affect-decision-on-remaining-in-leadership.html">said</a> that the attack on her husband last month at their San Francisco home would influence her decision on whether to stay in a leadership position.
“I have to say my decision will be affected about what happened the last week or two,” Pelosi told CNN&#8217;s Anderson Cooper during an interview soon after the attack happened.
Nancy&#8217;s husband, Paul Pelosi, was hospitalized in late October after a man broke into their home and attacked him with a hammer. The attacker reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-nancy-pelosis-husband-violently-assaulted-hospitalized-after-break-in-at-california-home">asked</a>, &#8220;Where&#8217;s Nancy?&#8221; multiple times and told police he was &#8220;waiting for Nancy&#8221; when they arrived on the scene. The suspect, David DePape, allegedly attacked Paul in full view of the police and has been charged with attempted kidnapping of a federal official as well as assault of an immediate family member of a federal official, among others, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/15/politics/david-depape-pleads-not-guilty-federal-charges/index.html">according</a> to CNN.

Speaker Pelosi Holds Ceremonial Swearing-In For Congressman-Elect Rudy Yakym

Nancy Pelosi To Announce ‘Her Future Plans’ After Republicans Clinch House Majority

Nancy Pelosi To Announce 'Her Future Plans' After Republicans Clinch House Majority

Ash Carter, who served as President Barack <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/barack-obama">Obama&#8217;s</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/obama-administration">secretary</a> of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-defense">defense</a> from 2015 to 2017, passed away at the age of 68, his family announced Tuesday.
Carter died from a &#8220;sudden cardiac event&#8221; while in Boston, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/defense-secretary-ashton-carter-dies-suddenly-68/story?id=92058655&amp;cid=social_twitter_abcn">according</a> to ABC News.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING: Former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has died unexpectedly at the age of 68, according to his family.
Carter served as secretary of defense under former Pres. Barack Obama. <a href="https://t.co/coo1Brrew2">https://t.co/coo1Brrew2</a>
&mdash; ABC News (@ABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1584902378414817280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 25, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It is with deep and profound sadness that the family of former Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter shares that Secretary Carter passed away Monday evening in Boston after a sudden cardiac event at the age of 68,&#8221; his family said in a statement, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/former-defense-secretary-ash-carter-dead-68-family-says">according</a> to Fox News.
Carter is survived by his wife and two children.
During his tenure as secretary of defense, Carter helped direct the country&#8217;s efforts to combat ISIS in Iraq and Syria. He also removed all remaining restrictions on women serving in combat in 2015 and ended the ban on transgender troops the following year, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ash-carter-dies-f3780f31c795285489873225fde19e05?taid=6357ecdaefc2c8000155c3de&amp;utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter">reported</a>.
“Americans who want to serve and can meet our standards should be afforded the opportunity to compete to do so,” Carter said in 2016. “Our mission is to defend this country, and we don’t want barriers unrelated to a person’s qualification to serve preventing us from recruiting or retaining the soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine who can best accomplish the mission.”
Carter&#8217;s wife, Stephanie, was featured in a viral 2015 <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/31/joe-biden-stephanie-carter-1246007">photograph</a> taken of then-Vice President Joe Biden standing behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders, and whispering in her ear. The photograph was widely mocked on social media and has become one of the most well known instances of Biden whispering in women&#8217;s ears.
Stephanie later said that the picture was &#8220;misleadingly extracted&#8221; and that Biden was reassuring her during her husband&#8217;s swearing-in ceremony.
This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.

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Hayden Daniel

Josh Hawley’s PELOSI Act Turns Spotlight On How Members Of Congress Regularly Beat The Stock Market

Court Blocks Special Master Review Of Mar-A-Lago Documents

Sen. Mark Kelly Warns Democrats ‘Absolutely’ Do Not Understand Border Issues

Nancy Pelosi To Announce ‘Her Future Plans’ After Republicans Clinch House Majority

Key Obama Administration Official Dead At 68