'Sabotage': Trump attacks Hawley for pushing bill that would ban congressional and presidential stock trading
Numerous members of Congress have gotten fabulously rich making well-timed investments.
Multiple bills have been introduced in recent years that would ban congressional stock trading, including Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley's Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act — the PELOSI Act.
Despite the opposition from his Republican peers — Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), for instance, warned of possible "unintended consequences" — Hawley successfully got the bill through through the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
President Trump was none too pleased with his longtime Republican ally in the Senate, suggesting in a strongly worded Truth Social post that Hawley was a "second-tier Senator" being used by Democrats to undermine him in an apparent act of "sabotage."
Hawley reintroduced the PELOSI Act in April, noting, "Americans have seen politician after politician turn a profit using information not available to the general public. It’s time we ban all members of Congress from trading and holding stocks and restore Americans’ trust in our nation’s legislative body."
The name of the bill is a not-so-subtle jab at one of the most brazen alleged insider traders in Congress, California Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D), whose annual salary is now around $174,000 but who has a net worth of $263.39 million, according to Quiver Quantitative.
RELATED: Cory Mills vs. the truth: Top 10 times the GOP wunderkind played fast and loose with the facts
Last year, President Donald Trump demanded that Pelosi be prosecuted for alleged insider trading after her husband dumped 2,000 of his shares in Visa — valued at roughly $500,000 — two months before the company was sued by the Department of Justice for allegedly monopolizing the debit markets. Visa stock dropped by 5% following the announcement of the DOJ's civil antitrust suit.
Pelosi is certainly not alone.
In his Blaze Originals documentary, "Bought and Paid For: How Politicians Get Filthy Rich," James Poulos, the host of BlazeTV's "Zero Hour" and the editor at large of Blaze Media, highlighted some of the "most egregious transactions" members of Congress have directly or indirectly pulled off in recent years — like making big investments in defense contractors on the eve of the war in Ukraine — without remorse or consequence.
Around the time of its reintroduction, Trump indicated that he would support such a ban.
However, the bill debated in committee on Wednesday would not just bar lawmakers in Congress and their spouses from buying, selling, or holding individual stocks while in office — it would apply to the American president and vice president as well.
'Members of Congress should be focused on delivering results for their constituents, not returns on investments.'
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he likes the legislation "conceptually," adding that "Nancy Pelosi became rich by having inside information. She made a fortune with her husband, and I think that's disgraceful. So in that sense, I'd like it, but I'd have to really see — you know I study these things very carefully, and this just happened, so I'll take a look at it."
A White House official speaking to the New York Times on the condition of anonymity claimed that Hawley blindsided the president's team with the bill, the original version of which would have reportedly required Trump and Vance to sell off their investments starting in 2027.
Hawley changed the bill so that officeholders would not have to divest until the beginning of their next terms, meaning Trump would be exempt.
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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) criticized the change, suggesting that the prohibition "should apply to everybody or nobody."
Nevertheless, the bill passed committee 8-7 — with all Republicans but Hawley voting in opposition.
After the vote, Hawley said in a statement, "Members of Congress should be focused on delivering results for their constituents, not returns on investments. It's time to find out where members stand. It’s time we restore trust in Congress and ban all members from trading and holding stocks."
RELATED: House Ethics clears GOP lawmaker of insider trading, calls for stock divestments anyway
Trump subsequently attacked Hawley on Truth Social, writing, "The Democrats, because of our tremendous ACHIEVEMENTS and SUCCESS, have been trying to 'Target' me for a long period of time, and they're using Josh Hawley, who I got elected TWICE, as a pawn to help them. I wonder why Hawley would pass a Bill that Nancy Pelosi is in absolute love with."
Trump suggested further that Hawley "is playing right into the dirty hands of the Democrats. It’s a great Bill for [Pelosi], and her 'husband,' but so bad for our Country! I don't think real Republicans want to see their President, who has had unprecedented success, TARGETED, because of the 'whims' of a second-tier Senator named Josh Hawley!"
The president also took issue with Hawley for siding with Democrats against Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott's attempt to add a report of controversial stock trading by Pelosi and her family to the bill — a possible deal-breaker for Democrats — and to add an exemption for the president and vice president.
When asked for comment on whether Trump's view changed in light of Hawley's alteration to the bill, the White House referred Blaze News back to the president's Truth Social post.
A poll conducted in 2023 by the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation found that 86% of Americans favored barring members of Congress and their family members from trading stocks. When broken down by political affiliation, 87% of Republican respondents, 88% of Democratic respondents, and 81% of independents supported the proposal.
The poll found that 87% of Americans also supported prohibiting the president, the vice president, and Supreme Court justices from trading stocks in individual companies.
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David Hogg targets Pelosi, unwittingly deals Democrats more damage ahead of likely DNC ouster
Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg has proven an effective albeit unwitting saboteur on the left. In addition to spilling the beans about who was really running the Biden White House, the 25-year-old gun control activist hammered California Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D) for her alleged insider trading in newly released undercover footage from Project Veritas.
Hogg, warned not to challenge Democratic incumbents earlier this year by DNC Chairman Ken Martin, appears to say in the newly released video, "I would say Pelosi's actually very good at her job. I don't agree with the stock-trading stuff."
"I mean, she gets better returns than almost every hedge fund in this city, every year," continued Hogg. "Some of these members of Congress make trades that are way too well timed to not have insider knowledge."
Pelosi, whose annual salary is now around $174,000, has a net worth of $260.37 million, according to Quiver Quantitative.
RELATED: Throw us a bone, Congress, and lay off the stock trough
"They happen to be some of the best financial analysts in human history," quipped Hogg, who is facing a potential ouster next month after party elites effectively declared his election null and void.
'I just want to burn everything down.'
In his Blaze Originals documentary, "Bought and Paid For: How Politicians Get Filthy Rich," James Poulos, the host of BlazeTV's "Zero Hour" and the editor at large of Blaze Media, highlighted some of the "most egregious transactions" members of Congress have directly or indirectly pulled off in recent years — like making big investments in defense contractors on the eve of the war in Ukraine — without remorse or consequence.
A financial disclosure signed on July 2, 2021, by Nancy Pelosi revealed that her husband bet big on Alphabet, Amazon, and Apple stock ahead of the House Judiciary Committee's vote on antitrust legislation that threatened to limit how those companies organized. According to Bloomberg, Mr. Pelosi's trade secured him a $4.8 million gain.
In September, President Donald Trump demanded that Pelosi be prosecuted for alleged insider trading after her husband dumped 2,000 of his shares in Visa — valued at roughly $500,000 — two months before the company was sued by the Department of Justice for allegedly monopolizing the debit markets. Visa stock dropped by 5% following the announcement of the DOJ's civil antitrust suit.
There are many more such cases of conveniently timed bets and dumps, not just from the Pelosi household but by others in Congress as well.
RELATED: David Hogg spills the beans to undercover reporter about who really controlled the Biden White House
Multiple bills have been introduced in recent years that would ban congressional stock trading, including Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley's Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act — or PELOSI Act for short.
While Hogg apparently shares the concern expressed by Trump and other Republicans, it's not a battle he's willing to fight.
Hogg told the Project Veritas journalist, "The hardest part about my job is I just want to burn everything down because it's all so corrupt. But you got to pick your battles and slowly build your momentum."
The DNC vice chair noted that even if he tried to hold Pelosi accountable, "we wouldn't beat her." He suggested that it was instead preferable to go after members who "are far weaker."
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Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund fires back in response to Pelosi's attempts to deflect blame for Jan. 6: 'I am stunned'
“I take the full responsibility.”
Those words by former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — the polar opposite of what she has publicly proclaimed for nearly 44 months — were uttered on Jan. 6 as she and Democratic colleagues watched the unfolding protests and violence at the U.S. Capitol on television, new video shows.
While claiming she takes responsibility in one video clip, she lashed out at former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund in another, putting the blame for Jan. 6 on his head.
Pelosi also claimed that she wanted the National Guard to “get rid of these people” on Jan. 6, although her office rejected Sund’s request for the Guard just days earlier.
Sund said if Pelosi had simply granted his Jan. 3 request for the National Guard, “I don’t think we would be here discussing this today.”
'They should have had much more anticipation about the National Guard.'
“I am stunned by the repeated statements by Pelosi about there not being any National Guard deployed to the Capitol in advance of the attack on January 6,” Sund told Blaze News, “when it was her sergeant at arms for the House of Representatives who denied my request for support on January 3, and then again repeatedly for 71 minutes while we were under attack on January 6.”
The Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight released six new video clips from unaired documentary footage shot on Jan. 6 after Pelosi and other House leaders were evacuated from the Capitol to nearby Fort McNair.
The videos had been in the possession of the now-defunct Jan. 6 Select Committee but were not turned over to House Republicans in January 2023 as required by House rules, said U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight.
The Subcommittee on Oversight had to obtain the videos directly from Home Box Office Inc., Loudermilk said.
“For over three years, Nancy Pelosi has refused to take responsibility for her failure to secure the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021,” Loudermilk said.
“Instead, she has pushed the focus of the failure on President Trump. As speaker, she controlled House operations and security on the House side of the Capitol — which she acknowledges in this HBO footage.”
'A complete victory for them'
Sitting with other House leaders watching news coverage from Fort McNair shown in one video, Pelosi said, “I don’t care what they say, they should have had much more anticipation about the National Guard.”
Pelosi’s statements are at odds with what the House sergeant at arms told Sund, who said he frantically tried to get approval for National Guard help practically from the time the crowds broke through the first police line at 12:53 p.m. on Jan. 6.
In one of the videos — filmed by Pelosi’s daughter Alexandra for an HBO documentary “Pelosi in the House” — the speaker was riding in a Capitol Police vehicle on the way to Fort McNair after top leaders were evacuated from the Capitol at 2:15 p.m. The House had just announced a recess due to the breach of the Senate wing door by rioters.
“They had to recess the session,” Pelosi said. “It’s a complete victory for them.”
As the Capitol Police vehicle navigated traffic with its siren blaring, Pelosi said, “Oh my God, I cannot believe the stupidity of this. And I take the full responsibility.”
Pelosi was visibly frustrated at being taken from the Capitol to a secure off-site location. “We going to stay here all day, the rest of our lives, or what?” she snapped. “We’re here until what? The National Guard decides to come and get rid of these people?”
'We got to come up with another plan. Pelosi will never go for it.'
According to congressional testimony, Sund asked House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving more than an hour earlier for the Capitol Police Board to declare an emergency and approve a request for deployment of the National Guard.
“I was advised by Mr. Irving that he needed to run it up the chain of command,” Sund testified before the U.S. Senate in February 2021.
The House sergeant at arms is appointed by and reports to the speaker. Under rules in force at the time, the police chief could not even request National Guard help without permission from the Capitol Police Board. Voting members of the board include the House and Senate sergeants at arms and the architect of the Capitol. Sund was an ex-officio member.
Sund's initial request to Irving and the Capitol Police Board for National Guard help was made at 1:09 p.m. on Jan. 6. Sund said he made repeated calls for updates from Irving and was told a decision was forthcoming. Pelosi did approve Irving's request to go to the Pentagon for Guard help. That decision was relayed to Sund from the Police Board at 2:10 p.m., three minutes before the Capitol was breached at the Senate wing door entrance.
Sund told Loudermilk’s subcommittee on Sept. 19, 2023, that he requested the National Guard three days ahead of Jan. 6, but that request was turned down by Irving because Irving said Pelosi would “never go for it.”
According to Sund, Irving suggested he speak to Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger about it on Jan. 3, 2021. Stenger, who died on June 27, 2022, later told Sund that Irving had called to tip him off that the chief was on his way over, Sund testified.
“And he told me Paul Irving had called him ahead of time and said: ‘Sund came here looking for the National, asking for the National Guard. We got to come up with another plan. Pelosi will never go for it.’”
“I was floored by him saying that,” Sund testified.
President Trump authorized use of up to 20,000 members of the National Guard during a meeting at the White House on Jan. 3, 2021, according to Kash Patel, a former senior Trump aide who attended the meeting. Under federal law, the president cannot order the Guard's use for domestic law enforcement. The president can only authorize. In the case of the District of Columbia, either Mayor Muriel Bowser or federal law enforcement could have requested Guard deployment.
In another video, shot while Pelosi walked to the subway under the Capitol grounds during evacuation, she said to her Capitol Police protective detail, “Over and over again. Are we prepared for what could happen? Consider the worst. And we didn’t.”
Sund said he was hamstrung by a bureaucratic structure that left Capitol Police protection open to partisan politics.
“People need to realize that I was the only chief of police in the U.S. who was restricted by law (2 U.S. Code 1970) from bringing in resources for my men and women without the approval of the Capitol Police Board and congressional leadership,” Sund told Blaze News.
“No wonder Congress changed this law in December of 2021, only 11 months after January 6,” Sund said. “If my request for support had been approved on January 3, 2021, I don’t think we would be here discussing this today.”
Pelosi and her staff director, Jamie Fleet, attacked Sund in several of the new videos.
'We have totally failed'
Riding to the Capitol on Jan. 7, 2021, Pelosi said during a phone call, “I never liked Sund. I think he should have been gone a long time ago.”
During a meeting at the Capitol with staff that same day, Pelosi said, “What a mess. What a mess,” then asked Fleet, “Do you have any confidence in Sund? What do you think of him?”
“We’ve always been skeptical of Sund,” Fleet said. “He has terrible relationships with the union. He has particularly been, I think, not great handling this coronavirus pandemic with the workforce.”
Sund told Blaze News he was endorsed by the United States Capitol Police Labor Committee, and police departments from around the country have used USCP’s pandemic plans as a model.
In another video clip, Pelosi said, “We have totally failed. We have to take some responsibility for not holding the security accountable for what could have happened.”
'I think our focus has to be on the president.'
While walking down a stairway with other House leaders after 2:15 p.m. as the Capitol was evacuated, Pelosi asked whether the National Guard had been called.
“Are they calling the National Guard? I asked him to do that earlier,” Pelosi said. When someone answered that a call had been made, Pelosi repeated, “And did they call the National Guard? And they didn’t come?”
National Guard troops from the District of Columbia were staged within sight of the Capitol the afternoon of Jan. 6. Due to delayed Capitol Police Board approval and bureaucratic wrangling at the Pentagon, troops didn’t arrive at the Capitol until 5:30 p.m., after a massive law enforcement mutual-aid response regained control of the grounds.
As Pelosi worked with her staff to craft public statements she was to release in the wake of Jan. 6, she made it a top priority to blame Trump for what she called “an armed insurrection against America.”
That focus had to come ahead of any announcements of staff resignations, according to the HBO videos. As a staff member read the draft of a statement being written for her, the speaker interrupted.
“Now wait, wait a minute,” she said, speaking on a ride to the Capitol on Jan. 7. “Let me just say this. I think our focus has to be on the president. Let’s not divert ourself.”
A staff member interjected that incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) had announced plans to fire Stenger, the Senate sergeant at arms. “I don’t even know who that is,” she said, to which a staff member replied, “It’s immaterial. Heads are rolling is what we’re saying.”
Pelosi was not deterred on the message to be emphasized.
“I don’t want to have it on a par with the insurrection and the impeachment and the rest of that,” she said. “If they ask, I will respond, but I’m not doing it on a par. It’s a diversionary tactic.”
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Democrats Stump For Biden After Questioning His Cognitive Decline
Pelosi acknowledged concerns over Biden's mental and physical decline just last week.
Pelosi's 'The Art of Power,' slated to come out later this year
Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, who has previously served as House speaker and was the first and only woman ever to do so, has a book coming out later this year titled "The Art of Power."
The long-serving lawmaker who has been in office since 1987, spent two decades serving as either House speaker or House minority leader.
Pelosi, 84, is seeking re-election this year.
"Pelosi took positions that established her as a prophetic voice on the major moral issues of the day, warning early about the dangers of the Iraq War and of the Chinese government’s long record of misbehavior. This moral courage prepared her for the arrival of Trump, with whom she famously tangled, becoming a red-coated symbol of resistance to his destructive presidency. Here, she reveals how she went toe-to-toe with Trump, leading up to January 6, 2021, when he unleashed his post-election fury on the Congress. Pelosi gives us her personal account of that day," a book description on the Simon & Schuster website states.
"Nearly two years later, violence and fury would erupt inside Pelosi’s own home when an intruder, demanding to see the Speaker, viciously attacked her beloved husband, Paul. Here, Pelosi shares that horrifying day and the traumatic aftermath for her and her family," the description notes.
Simon & Schuster's site also indicates that Pelosi and her husband "live in San Francisco, which they consider heaven on earth."
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