House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted in a congressional disclosure last week that her husband, Paul Pelosi, exercised call options on between $1 million and $5 million worth of Google stock.
The decision to pull out the money, initially purchased in December 2021, came in September, just days before House Democrats introduced legislation prohibiting federal officials from trading stocks.
News of the transaction adds to concerns over the alleged political influence of Paul Pelosi's investments. On Sept. 16, he sold thousands of NVIDIA and Micron Technology shares after President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.
However, the six-figure loss came after Paul Pelosi undertook intense scrutiny for investing in the two companies.
Nancy Pelosi had initially opposed implementing a stock trading ban for Congress members, telling reporters in December last year that the U.S. is a "free-market economy" and federal officials "should be allowed to participate in that."
Later, the speaker stated that if members of the Democratic Caucus want to pursue a trading ban, she would be "OK" with it. And although that led to bipartisan support for forwarding a stock trading ban, some Democrats have accused Nancy Pelosi of stalling the legislation.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., recently accused the speaker during an appearance on Fox News of not acting in "good faith" by "delaying what's potentially a vote on any bill that would ban members of Congress from buying and selling stocks."
"The speaker put forward, really, a bill destined to fail," Spanberger said about the Democrat-proposed bill. Instead, she advocated for a vote on her TRUST in Congress Act proposed alongside Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.
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