WASHINGTON — The law banning members of Congress from insider trading should be upgraded in light of the frantic stock trading on Capitol Hill during the coronavirus pandemic, the bill’s author, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), told VICE News.
Members of Congress should be banned from owning individual stocks altogether, and the sharing of “political intelligence” with outsiders should have to be disclosed, Gillibrand said.
Her remarks follow waves of outrage over members of Congress selling millions worth of shares before the market tanked over fears of coronavirus. In some cases, those sales came after closed-door briefings about the virus.
Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) have taken the brunt of public criticism, although several other members of Congress also bought and sold stocks between January and March of this year. The Department of Justice is reportedly investigating the trades, and has reached out to Sen. Burr.