Posted on 10/11/2010 5:12:43 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Chris Miller nearly doubled his $3,500 stock investment in a renewable-energy firm in 2008. It was a perfectly legal bet, but he's no ordinary investor.
Mr. Miller is the top energy-policy adviser to Nevada Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who helped pass legislation that wound up benefiting the firm.
Jim Manley, a spokesman for Mr. Reid's office, initially defended Mr. Miller's purchase of shares in the company, Energy Conversion Devices Inc. He said the aide had no influence over tax incentives for renewable-energy firms, and that other factors boosted the stock.
But on Sunday, Mr. Manley added: "Mr. Miller showed poor judgment and Senator Reid has made it very clear to Chris and all his staff that their actions must not only follow the law, but must meet the higher standards the public has a right to expect from elected officials and their staffs."
Mr. Miller isn't the only Congressional staffer making such stock bets. At least 72 aides on both sides of the aisle traded shares of companies that their bosses help oversee, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of more than 3,000 disclosure forms covering trading activity by Capitol Hill staffers for 2008 and 2009.
The Journal analysis showed that an aide to a Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee bought Bank of America Corp. stock before results of last year's government stress tests eased investor concerns about the health of the banking industry. [...]
The aides identified by the Journal say they didn't profit by making trades based on any information gathered in the halls of Congress. Even if they had done so, it would be legal, because insider-trading laws don't apply to Congress.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Sounds as above board as that $100,000 Hillary collected on cattle futures. These Donks know the market, eh ?
insider-trading laws don’t apply to Congress.
News to me. I seem to remember someone being accused of the crime. but it isn’t coming to me.
Do *any* laws apply to Congress?? How convenient.
From an article a few years ago when they didn’t pass a law to stop it.
******
While current law prevents insider trading on non-public information gotten through corporate channels, the Securities and Exchange Commission does not have similar powers to regulate trades made on non-public information obtained through government channels.
That loophole could allow lawmakers and other federal employees to make millions of dollars on insider investments, Baird said. If they’re later accused of getting insider information, he added, they’ve got a simple defense: “Not from the company, I didn’t.”
Thanks, learn something new every day.
To be honest, I didn’t know that congress had a loophole that you could drive a truck through until I looked up the information after your response. So, we both learn something new today.
I doubt Reid would have condemned it were it not for an election coming up, one in which he is being seriously challenged. He probably would have said nothing.
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