Yes it’s true!!
No exemption exists for anybody viz. insider trading rules. Those regs were originally constructed so that you either had to have an explicit or implicit position of trust to be subject to the rule. Those you passed info to were also subject.
The SEC enacted rule 10b5-1 in 2000 to simplify the insider trading definition. So the issue is not that Congress has a de facto pass; it's that the SEC must enforce each action on a case by case basis.
I'm no lawyer. Maybe one will show up here on this thread to help us out. But the way I read this is yeah, maybe it's against the law, but the SEC has to step up and enforce it. And we all know that given the revolving door that exists between the SEC and the big trading houses and Congress, ain't nobody's going to be "enforcing" sh*t unless someone gets too greedy at the cookie jar and they have to bust someone just to save face.