Former Hawaii congresswoman and 2020 Democratic presidential contender Tulsi Gabbard has taken her party to task again in an interview with Fox News.
Gabbard responded to reports that Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), made a head-turning, multimillion-dollar purchase last month of stock in a computer chip maker as reports noted that the House was considering legislation to provide tens of billions in funding for new computer chip manufacturing as a means of moving away from Chinese-made chips.
Several Republicans and conservative critics suggested that Paul Pelosi’s purchase was highly suspicious given its timing, though no one has accused him or the Speaker outright of violating insider trading laws, and no allegations have been made by President Biden’s Justice Department.
Nevertheless, Gabbard explained that what took place is common in Congress.
“What we’re seeing here is the same thing that I saw when I was in Congress — is this blatant corruption being exposed in broad daylight — the system is rigged,” on “Jesse Watters Primetime.”
“We have people in positions of power to pass legislation, to enact new policies. They can see, ‘OK, here are the industries or companies that will benefit from this. I’m going to go and make these investments, buy this stock or that stock, or have my husband or wife do it and then make money in the process,'” Gabbard noted further.
Fox News added:
Gabbard did not comment in detail about conjecture about Pelosi, D-Calif., but said she introduced legislation during her time in office that would put a tighter ban on such a dynamic between lawmakers, family members and the markets.
“I think it’s important also to look at this, especially in the environment that we’re in right now. What is even more dangerous than what we’re seeing here is that we have members of Congress who are investing in companies or industries that will benefit from a new Cold War or conflict, for example,” she said.
“And these are the very same people who are making the policies, who have a vested interest in stoking those tensions and amping up this new Cold War, directly benefiting from it, and simultaneously undermining our actual national security for our country and the interests of the American people,” Gabbard continued.
Fox News previously the Speaker if Paul had ever made stock purchases or trades after hearing about the financial goings-on of Capitol Hill.
“No,” Pelosi said. “Absolutely not.”
Paul Pelosi purchased $5 million in stock in a chip manufacturer as Congress is set to vote on legislation that could hand $52 billion to semiconductor producers.
Pelosi was back to making a number of notable moves in the stock market in June, including “investing millions in Nvidia Corporation” while selling “large quantities of Visa and Apple stocks and call options,” The Epoch Times noted, citing a disclosure from the Speaker.
The outlet added:
According to the filing, Paul Pelosi exercised 200 call options, or 20,000 shares, of Nvidia at a strike price of $100 and expiration of June 17, 2022, worth between $1 million and $5 million.
On that same date, her husband also sold 50 call options in Apple at a strike price of $100, with the transaction listed with a value of between $100,000 and $250,000.
Call options are a contract between a buyer and a seller to purchase a certain stock, bond, commodity, or other assets at a certain price up until a defined expiration date.
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