It’s good to be in Congress

Kelly, name something good about being in Congress! I will, but first a news story.

A husband (soon-to-be ex-husband) was convicted this past week for eavesdropping on his wife. Well, it’s slightly more complicated than that. He and his wife worked from home post-COVID. Their desks were a mere 20 feet apart, so they could overhear each other’s phone calls if they tried. He tried. She worked for BP (British Petroleum in a past life) and was part of a team putting together a purchase of Travel Centers of America (TCA). The husband listened intently and did some research. TCA is undervalued so he starts buying TCA stock. Lots of it. After the deal closes, he sells, making a tidy $1.8 million. Wifey knows nothing.

BP does a post-purchase inquiry and finds out about the stock purchase. The wife got called on the carpet and stormed home, whereupon the miscreant husband offered his profuse apology, but he did it all for her. He was tired of her working long hours, he said, so this was how she could stay home. Instead, she moved out and filed for divorce. And despite her apparent lack of knowledge, she was fired by BP.

The husband was prosecuted, convicted, banned from corporate office, and ordered to cough up his ill-gotten gains. He profusely apologized, but wifey is proceeding with the divorce.

In other news, Nancy Pelosi’s husband has a net worth of over $100 million dollars. He has frequently betted on tech stocks (NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft) in recent years, which coincidentally came as Congress advanced bills dealing with targeting Google, Apple, and Amazon.

News outlets report, but no one cares. Seventy-eight members of Congress allegedly didn’t properly report their financial trades as mandated by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, also known as the STOCK Act. Interestingly, Pelosi was not on the list, but Middle Georgia’s Austin Scott was. The law—passed a decade ago—attempted to combat insider trading and conflicts of interest. Congress passed a law with no teeth, so lawmakers have not fully complied with reporting requirements, leading to calls for a complete ban on trading individual stocks among members of Congress. 

Undaunted, Paul Pelosi steams ahead, purchasing $2.6 million worth of Apple and Microsoft stock options recently. In July 2021, he eked out a $4.8 million gain in an Alphabet (Google) stock trade the week before the House Judiciary Committee advanced bipartisan antitrust bills targeting Google, Apple, and Amazon. Nancy says there is no discussion about her work at home. Right.

Moral of the story? It’s good to be in Congress.

Kelly Burke, attorney, former district attorney, and magistrate judge, writes about the law, rock’n’roll, and politics or anything that strikes him. Contact Kelly at dakellyburke@gmail.com to comment on this article or suggest articles that you’d like to see, and visit his website at www.kellyrburke.com

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