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On the congressional-comeback trail, Democrat Harley Rouda appears to violate the federal STOCK Act

Rep. Harley Rouda,  Democrat from California
Rep. Harley Rouda, a Democrat from California, appears to have violated a provision of the federal STOCK Act that's designed to make lawmakers' stock trades more transparent. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images/Pool

  • Rouda disclosed his wife's Amazon and Tesla trades months past a federal deadline.
  • Rep. Tom Malinowski was again late in disclosing trades and will face another ethics complaint.
  • And Rep. Debbie Dingell, who's outspoken on healthcare issues, sold drug-company stock.
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Members of Congress routinely trade stocks, buying and selling the shares of companies that often have significant business before the federal government — and sometimes spend a lot of money to lobby lawmakers. 

Each week, Insider digs through congressional financial-disclosure records and asks lawmakers questions about their personal finances. Here are the latest highlights from what we've discovered.

Rouda appears to violate the STOCK Act

Former Rep. Harley Rouda, in the middle of a political-comeback attempt, promises to "fight for transparency and decency in Washington" if elected again to Congress in 2022. 

But it appears Rouda, a Democrat from California, violated a provision of the federal STOCK Act that's designed to make lawmakers' stock trades more transparent.

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Rouda recently disclosed that his wife in May 2020 purchased up to $15,000 worth of Amazon stock, then sold the same amount worth of Amazon shares a week later, according to a new congressional filing. She also sold up to $15,000 in Tesla stock in June 2020.

The disclosures, which stem from a time when Rouda still served in Congress, are about 11 months tardy. 

 

By law, Rouda had 30 days after he became aware of the trades — or 45 days overall — to disclose them. That rule applies to members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children. At minimum, such violations can result in fines.

"Congressman Rouda was not made aware of his wife's handful of trades until 2021. He immediately filed the necessary disclosures upon learning of the transactions," Alyssa Napuri, Rouda's campaign manager, told Insider. "Congressman Rouda and his wife handle their personal finances independently of one another and through the counsel of financial advisors."

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Read more: Republican Rep. Pat Fallon failed to properly disclose more than 90 stock transactions worth as much as $17.53 million in apparent violation of federal law

Many members of Congress use financial advisors to make stock trades but are nevertheless personally required to adhere to federal stock-disclosure rules. Recently, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Pramila Jayapal told Insider they planned to introduce legislation that would bar members of Congress from trading individual stocks altogether. 

Napuri said Rouda "supports the principle of this potential legislation," but she declined to comment on whether the lawmaker would voluntarily stop trading individual stocks if elected to Congress in 2022.

Rouda, who in November lost his seat by about 2 percentage points to Republican Michelle Steel, has had trouble with late disclosures before. In October, CBS News reported that Rouda paid a fine after failing to properly disclose trades made during 2019.

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The office of Rep. Tom Malinowski, a New Jersey Democrat, previously acknowledged to Insider the congressman failed to properly disclose dozens of stock trades. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Malinowski to face another ethics complaint

Rep. Tom Malinowski's stock-related troubles continue to mount, as a new federal filing indicates he again failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars of trades on time, per the STOCK Act.

Malinowski made between $186,000 and $540,000 worth of stock trades during April but didn't publicly report the trades until June 12. Peloton Interactive Inc., DoorDash Inc., and General Finance Corp. are among the stocks that Malinowski bought or sold.

Malinowski certified that he became aware of the trades on April 30.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a right-of-center nonprofit watchdog organization, told Insider it would on Tuesday file a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against Malinowski because of these late disclosures.

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Read more: Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville is a vocal critic of China's government. He also owned stock in a Chinese company with Communist Party ties.

This will be the third known Office of Congressional Ethics complaint this year against Malinowski. In March, the Campaign Legal Center and Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust filed separate complaints against the congressman after Insider found he failed to disclose dozens of stock trades together valued at nearly $3 million. Both complaints are pending.

Malinowski's office did not respond to Insider's questions about why he disclosed these stock trades after the 30-day deadline.

His office previously told Insider the congressman's day-to-day stock trades were managed by a financial advisor and that he was in the middle of transferring his assets into a blind trust and seeking congressional ethics approval to do so.

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In May, Malinowski continued trading six figures' worth of stocks, including those of DoorDash, Peloton, and The Honest Co. Inc., according to a separate disclosure that he filed on time.

Rep. Debbie Dingell, Democrat of Michigan
Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Democrat of Michigan, sold stock in the pharmaceutical companies AbbVie and Viatris. Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Dingell cashes in on 2 high-charging pharma companies

Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Democrat of Michigan, is one of the most vocal members of Congress when it comes to reducing the cost of healthcare. 

She cosponsored and has twice voted in favor of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's bill that would allow the government to price drugs at a rate more in line with what other similar countries charge. Should the bill become law, it would take a massive bite out of pharmaceutical companies' bottom lines and tackle a healthcare problem that many people in America view to be a top concern.

"Americans are forced to cut pills in half, choose between paying for medication and rent, or avoid taking needed medicines entirely due to cost," Dingell said in a 2019 statement touting the drug-pricing legislation. "We owe it to the American people to do everything possible to lower the cost of healthcare."

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Dingell also coled the introduction of the Medicare For All Act, a bill that would abolish private health insurance in favor of placing everyone living in the US into a government plan. It also included a provision to let the government negotiate drug prices.

But on June 18, Dingell sold as much as $100,000 in stock from AbbVie Inc. The company's rheumatoid-arthritis treatment, Humira, is the highest-selling drug. AbbVie doubled the list price for Humira to $38,000 over the course of six years, a Senate analysis found.

Read more: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's side hustle: earning cash as a California winery intern

Another one of its drugs, Imbruvica, which is used to treat cancer, carries a list price of $181,000. 

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And that wasn't the only drug company that Dingell invested in. The stock disclosures showed she also sold up to $15,000 in Viatris stock, also on June 18. 

Viatris is a new company that formed after Upjohn merged with Mylan — another controversial pharmaceutical giant. Mylan hiked the price of its lifesaving EpiPens, used to treat serious allergic reactions, from $50 to $600. 

Executives from both Mylan and AbbVie have been called to Capitol Hill to answer to Congress about high drug prices. AbbVie routinely spends several million dollars annually lobbying federal lawmakers and government agencies, according to disclosure data compiled by the nonpartisan research organization OpenSecrets.

The topic of whether Congress needs to take action on high drug prices is in the mix as Democrats prepare an infrastructure and jobs package designed to assist workers. President Joe Biden has largely backed off his campaign promises to lower prices, but some Democratic leaders are pushing for change anyway.

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Dingell's staff did not directly respond to inquiries about the nature of the stock sales.

"Congresswoman Dingell has a long, proven record of fighting to lower drug prices and hold pharmaceutical companies accountable, and she always will," her spokesman Dan Black told Insider. 

Earlier disclosures showed she purchased up to $50,000 in AbbVie stock in October. That account appears to have been in the name of her late husband, former Rep. John Dingell, though he'd already died when the transaction occurred. Her husband had also been one of the lead proponents of government drug-price negotiation when he was in the House. 

She made other AbbVie stock purchases in 2019 and 2018

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Rep. Lois Frankel, Democrat of Florida
Rep. Lois Frankel, a Democrat of Florida, holds stock in the health-insurance company Cigna. Toya Sarno Jordan/Getty Images

Members of Congress trade healthcare and infrastructure stocks 

Dingell wasn't the only one investing in AbbVie stock. 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, purchased up to $15,000 worth of AbbVie stock on June 16, according to a new disclosure. Greene also bought up to $15,000 worth each of several other stocks, including AT&T Inc., Chevron Corp., International Paper Co., and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., the parent company of the Walgreens drugstore chain.

Meanwhile, a disclosure for Sen. Rob Portman, a retiring Republican from Ohio, showed his wife, Jane, last year earned up to $1,000 in capital gains in AbbVie.

She also earned up to $1,000 in capital gains PepsiCo and in Abbott Laboratories, a testing company whose business soared before vaccines became available. She earned up to $15,000 in capital gains from Microsoft, up to $5,000 in Amazon, up to $2,500 from Bank of America, and up to $2,500 from Johnson & Johnson, which created one of the coronavirus vaccines. 

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Read more: Coca-Cola is still the real thing for Sen. Cynthia Lummis despite the company infuriating many Republicans

Other recent trades of note included Rep. Lois Frankel's purchase of up to $15,000 in stock from the health-insurance giant Cigna. The Democrat from Florida was a cosponsor of the Medicare for All Act that would abolish private health insurance.

Morgan Routman, a spokesperson for Frankel's office, said the congresswoman had a money manager and "plays no role in it."

Rep. Austin Scott, a Republican of Georgia, traded up to $15,000 in Clean Energy Fuels Corp. stock in June three times. He also sold up to $15,000 in stock in Nuvve Holding Corp., an electric-vehicle-charging stock. 

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Such companies could see a boost under the infrastructure bill that Congress is working on.

tom cotton new hampshire 2024
Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican representing Arkansas. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Cotton's book royalties bigger than his Senate salary

During 2020, Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, earned $202,500 in royalties from his recent book, "Sacred Duty: A Soldier's Tour at Arlington National Cemetery," according to a Senate disclosure he filed July 1.

He also reported earning $28,000 in wages from Hillsdale College in Michigan.

Cotton last year earned a $174,000 salary as a member of the Senate.

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