BTW from what I have read (and I am sure there are many on this thread who know the facts and hopefully they will correct the matter), it is illegal for congressvermin to use their insider knowledge for financial gain, ie insider trading etc.
AFAIK it has always been illegal, or at least fro some years. They just get away with it.
My understanding (from memory, not recent research or verification) is this:
It was legal for a long time for congressvermin to do insider trading. At some point ( a year or 2 ago? ) there was a big squawk, so they made a BIG SHOW of passing a law against it.
Then very quietly after about 6 months or so, they repealed that law.
I may have the details/timing wrong, but pretty confident on the gist of it. Happy to be corrected on any of this.
I may be wrong here, but the Senate passed an act to outlaw the practice, but the House never did. Again, not certain.