Paul Pelosi, Husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Arrested on Drunken-Driving Charges
WASHINGTON (TND) — After being arrested for a DUI, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband once again made headlines by controversially trading stock in a computer chip company ahead of a scheduled congressional vote on the semiconductor industry.
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Byron Donalds joined The National Desk Thursday morning. (Video: The National Desk){ }
FOX Business reports it reached out to Pelosi's office regarding her husband Paul's million-dollar purchase of stock in Nvidia, a semiconductor company known for its high-end graphics cards and processors for PCs, right as Congress is set to vote on up to $52 billion dollars worth of subsidies for the industry.
Drew Hammill, a spokesperson for Pelosi's office, reportedly responded to Fox News.
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The Speaker does not own any stocks. As you can see from the required disclosures, with which the Speaker fully cooperates, these transactions are marked ‘SP’ for Spouse. The Speaker has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions," Hammill told Fox.
Pelosi herself has been in the spotlight for her opinion that American lawmakers should be allowed to trade stock, despite being privy to insider information.
Back in December 2021, around the time Pelosi made the comments, former Obama administration ethics watchdog Walter Shaub criticized Pelosi, telling Fox News he believed the idea was "disgusting."
The American people are sick of members of Congress buying and selling stock and creating the appearance of trading on insider information," Schaub said. "They should absolutely be banned from trading stocks. Let them buy diversified mutual funds. Let them buy government bonds. But bar them from trading stocks for crying out loud.
Days after Pelosi made her comments, her husband Paul reportedly bought millions of dollars worth of call options in various tech stocks. Many of those trades were said to have involved companies that were affected by Paul's wife's legislative decisions.
One timely investment netted Paul $5.3 million, according to Fortune.
To be clear, insider trading is already a serious federal criminal and civil violation and the Speaker strongly supports robust enforcement of the relevant statutes by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission," Hammill reportedly added in his statement to Fox News. "The Speaker led the House in passing the bipartisan Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act, which would subject federal judges to similar disclosure requirements as those in the STOCK Act. President Biden signed this bill into law in May.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., appearing on the show "Fox and Friends," heavily criticized both Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul.
Nancy Pelosi is the ultimate insider. Not only is her husband buying stock options on a much higher level than the average member of Congress...The average member of Congress may buy $5,000 or $6,000 of stock. He's buying $500,000 worth of stock. He's buying stock options which expire," Rep. Cromer said while on the show.
To be able to trade stock options profitably, you have to know exactly which direction that stock's going to move, and you can make a huge profit. This is wrong," Rep. Cromer added. "This is another example of the media turning a blind eye to Nancy Pelosi's bad behavior and unethical behavior.
The Senate could vote on the semiconductor industry-subsidizing bill as early as Tuesday, Reuters reports. The intent of the bill is to boost American production of the products so the U.S. won't have to rely as heavily on imports from Asia.
Paul Pelosi was arrested for drunk driving in California in May, a report which made headlines nationwide. Records showed he was charged with driving under the influence and driving with a blood alcohol content level of 0.08 or higher.
Hammill also issued statements on the matter, but simply said that Nancy Pelosi was aware and not offering any comments.