Checks & Imbalances: Pelosi Talks Stocks

Today we look at Congressional conflicts of interest and Trump’s special master.

Pelosi Says Congress Stock Trading Bill Could Go To Floor This Month

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that a bill banning Congress members from trading individual stocks may go to a vote as soon as this month, setting the stage for the long-awaited legislation to take effect after dozens of legislators, including Pelosi, have been accused of benefiting from insider knowledge,” reports Derek Saul.

It remains to be seen exactly what the restrictions may be, but a bipartisan bill introduced in February by six bipartisan representatives and senators called for a ban on Congress members and their families from owning any individual securities, including stocks, bonds and commodities. The proposal did allow for lawmakers to own mutual funds and ETFs and suggested a $50,000 penalty for violations. There has been a spike in interest for the trading habits of lawmakers in recent years, and a “Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker” Twitter account has more than 158,000 followers.

At issue are lawmakers’ possible conflicts of interest. Last fall, the nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics said it found “substantial reason to believe” Rep Mike Kelly (R-Penn.) may have misused confidential information about steel imports for personal gain, when his wife bought at least $15,000 of shares in a domestic-steel producer five days before the Department of Commerce announced an investigation into steel imports.

Another concern: Representatives have consistently failed to disclose their securities transactions within 45 days, as the law requires. Reps. Katherine Clark (D-Ma.), David Joyce (R-Ohio) and Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) are among the members of Congress who have been delinquent in reporting their trades to the House Clerk’s Office.

Nancy Pelosi answers questions during her weekly news conference at the Capitol on Wednesday.

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Judge Picks Special Master In Mar-A-Lago Case—And Rejects DOJ’s Request To Exclude Classified Documents

“Retired Judge Raymond Dearie will serve as a special master to review documents seized by the FBI from Mar-A-Lago last month, a federal judge ordered Thursday, turning down the Department of Justice’s request to let prosecutors pore through classified documents while Dearie conducts a review that’s expected to wrap up by late November—though the DOJ is expected to appeal the decision,” reports Alison Durkee.

The DOJ had asked Cannon to exclude about 100 classified records from an earlier order barring prosecutors from using any of the seized Mar-A-Lago records until a special master—or a court-appointed third party who reviews the documents for privileged materials—can finish his work.

Trump’s attorneys argued that the court should not grant the DOJ’s request, claiming the government can’t say if all the documents marked as classified actually were, because Trump could have declassified them—but the filing did not say whether or not he actually did.

Cannon sided with Trump on whether to include classified records in the review, writing that she “does not find it appropriate to accept the Government’s conclusions on [classified documents] without further review by a neutral third party in an expedited and orderly fashion.”

Former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on February 11 in Palm Beach, Florida.

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Watch: How Trump Will Probably Respond To DOJ Appeal

Your correspondent joined Forbes Newsroom and assistant managing editor Diane Brady to discuss Trump’s history of dragging out legal battles and lessons from the 2020 campaigns of Amy McGrath and Jamie Harrison.

Continuing Irresolutions

Updates on Checks & Imbalances’ previous reporting

On Saturday, the head of Women for America First, a pro-Trump dark-money group, tweeted that she had received a subpoena from the Justice Department over her group’s role in organizing the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol. The group is raising money off of the probe, reported Nancy Levine of Rantt Media. On the day of the riot, chair Amy Kremer tried to distance her group from the events at the Capitol. “We unequivocally denounce violence of any type and under any circumstances,” she said in a statement. Now the solicitations to raise money off of the subpoena come with a photo showing the storming of the legislature.

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On Wednesday, the House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management put out a press release that the entire chamber passed six bills within the subcommittee’s jurisdiction. None of those bills, however, included the legislation chair Dina Titus (D-Nevada) submitted in May in hopes of preventing a president from leasing government property, as Trump did with his D.C. hotel. That bill, the OUR Public Buildings Act, has not advanced since Titus filed it.

Watch: Charles Booker, Kentucky Dem Senate Nominee, Talks Jobs, Student Loans & Rand Paul

Tracking Trump

Forbes continues to update “Tracking Trump: A Rundown Of All The Lawsuits And Investigations Involving The Former President.”

Forbes

“Former President Donald Trump told right-wing radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday he would have ‘no prohibition against running’ for president in 2024 if he is indicted in the Justice Department’s criminal probe into classified documents he took to his Mar-A-Lago home, and that the country would face ‘big problems’ if he is indicted,” reports Brian Bushard.

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Former Disney CEO Bob Iger is joining the billionaire brother of Jared Kushner, Josh, as a partner in Thrive Capital, the firm announced on Tuesday, Derek Saul reported.

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The American Cornerstone Institute, a conservative nonprofit headed by former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, held its founders dinner at one of Trump’s New Jersey golf clubs last weekend. Trump attended, as did Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) and former HUD official Lynne Patton, who worked at the Trump Organization before joining the government.

FACEBOOK/ANDREW D. HUGHES

INSTAGRAM/LYNNE PATTON

“Trump Media’s Merger Delay Puts $1 Billion Financing Deal in Doubt” (The New York Times)
“Georgia 2020 election inquiry may lead to prison sentences, prosecutor says” (The Washington Post)
“N.Y. Attorney General May Sue Trump After Rejecting Settlement Offer” (The New York Times)
“For Donald Trump, Information Has Always Been Power” (ProPublica)
“Trump’s Save America paid $3 million to cover top lawyer’s legal work” (Politico)
“Missouri Senate candidate Eric Schmitt is heading back to Mar-a-Lago for a fundraiser with Donald Trump. Tickets start at $1,000 and go up to $25,000. March fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago for Schmitt brought in $1.6 million. Campaign has previously paid the venue over $30,000.” (Twitter/Brian Schwartz of CNBC)
“Donald Trump’s visit to his Virginia golf course was in preparation for 2023 LIV Golf event” (Insider)
“Apple, Amazon Passed on LIV Golf Media Rights” (The Wall Street Journal)
“New ‘dark money’ group tied to former Trump officials launches provocative ads ahead of 2022 midterms” (OpenSecrets)

Editor’s Picks

“National Academy sanctions White House climate adviser” (E&E News)
“Top Biden adviser’s multimillion-dollar divestment ‘still in process’ after four months” (The Washington Examiner)
“Biden’s FAA nominee named in search warrant amid California political spat” (Politico)
“These corporations are backing the sponsors of a national abortion ban” (Popular Information)
“The Unusual Whales Subversive ETFs for both Democratic, $NANC, and Republican, $KRUZ, Congressional trading have been filed. The ETFs follow trading of Democratic and Republican members, and their spouses.” (Twitter/Unusual Whales)
“Possible presidential contenders raise over $591 million while waiting to declare candidacy” (OpenSecrets)
“Rule changes open door for lawmakers to rely further on ads funded by taxpayers” (The Hill)
““Chuck Schumer’s Senate Majority PAC and its Georgia Honor affiliate drop $7.4 million in five races” (Twitter/Rob Pyers of California Target Book)
“Donut break journalism” (Popular Information)
“Thiel vs. McConnell, Round 2” (Puck)
“Ways and Means aide moves to big-lobbying trade group” (LegiStorm)
“Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick will host Beto O’Rourke for a fundraiser at their home in NYC next week, apparently” (Twitter/Scott Braddock of The Quorum Report)