On Monday, First Republic became the next bank to fail in recent months as depositors rushed to withdraw funds. Regulators with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation arranged a deal for JPMorgan Chase to assume the bank’s assets.
But based on financial disclosure forms reviewed by the Daily Wire, over the last two months, multiple lawmakers in Congress sold their shares in First Republic Bank, and in some cases, quickly purchased shares in JPMorgan Chase.
It’s almost as if they had insider information.
According to the Daily Wire, on March 16, Florida Democrat Rep. Lois Frankel sold shares in First Republic and less than a week later, purchased shares in JPMorgan Chase.
Likewise, California Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna purchased shares in First Republic on March 9 only to sell off shares in the bank on March 15. Khanna also purchased shares in JPMorgan Chase on March 3 and March 14.
Republican Rep. John Curtis of Utah dropped shares in First Republic on March 16. New York Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman also sold shares of First Republic on March 15.
The wife of Oregan Democrat Rep. Earl Blumenauer sold shares in First Republic on March 20.
Additionally, the Daily Wire found that New York Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis purchased stock in New York Community Bancorp on March 17. This company would later acquire New York’s Signature Bank which failed on March 12.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill using inside information to buy and sell stocks has long been a source of concern, even after Congress passed the STOCK Act in 2010.
On Tuesday, a group of bipartisan House members from the Freedom Caucus, the Progressive Caucus, and the Problem Solvers Caucus introduced new legislation aimed at preventing congressional insider trading and restoring public trust by prohibiting members of Congress, along with their spouses, and dependents from trading in individual stocks.
The legislation would also give lawmakers currently owning individual stocks ninety days to divest or place the stocks in a “qualified blind trust.”
