Trump calls for investigation of Nancy Pelosi over stock trading using ‘inside information’
“Nancy Pelosi became rich by having inside information. She made a fortune with her husband and I think that’s disgraceful.”
President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be investigated for becoming “rich by having inside information.”
“Nancy Pelosi became rich by having inside information. She made a fortune with her husband and I think that’s disgraceful,” he said, later adding, “Nancy Pelosi should be investigated because she has the highest return of anybody practically in the history of Wall Street, save a few. How did that happen? It happened by she knows exactly what’s gonna happen, what’s gonna be announced. She buys stock, and then the stock goes up after the announcement is made. And she ought to be investigated.”
Pelosi has previously pushed back against such accusations. Her spokesperson, Ian Krager told the Daily Mail that “Speaker Pelosi does not own any stocks, and she has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions.” According to Quiver Quantitative, Pelosi’s net worth is estimated at $262 million as of Thursday. In 2021, Pelosi had defended lawmakers’ ability to trade stocks, saying: “We are a free market economy. They should be able to participate in that.”
During the press conference, Trump was asked about a bill introduced by Senator Josh Hawley that would ban members of Congress, as well as the Vice President and President, from trading stocks. “Well I like it conceptually,” Trump told reporters, stopping short of offering a full endorsement. The bill in question cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee with an 8-7 vote. All Democrats on the committee, along with Hawley, voted in favor.
Sen. Hawley has described the bill’s progress as a long-overdue development. “We have an opportunity here today to do something that the public has wanted us to do for decades, and that is to ban members of Congress from profiting on information that, frankly, only members of Congress have,” he said.
Pelosi, who had resisted similar legislation in the past, endorsed the bill after it cleared the Senate committee. “We must have strong transparency, robust accountability and tough enforcement for financial conduct in office because the American people deserve confidence that their elected leaders are serving the public interest—not their personal portfolios,” she said in a statement.
Not all Republicans backed the modified bill. Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio withdrew his support after changes from the original bill he had supported, and others, including Sens. Ron Johnson, Rick Scott, and Rand Paul, expressed concerns as well. A White House official told Axios that the inclusion of the executive branch raised Article II concerns, which relate to the constitutional limits on restricting the powers of the president.
Trump posted to Truth Social, “Why would one ‘Republican,’ Senator Josh Hawley from the Great State of Missouri, join with all of the Democrats to block a Review, sponsored by Senator Rick Scott, and with the support of almost all other Republicans, of Nancy Pelosi’s Stock Trading over the last 25 years. The information was inappropriately released just minutes before the Vote — Very much like SABOTAGE! The Democrats, because of our tremendous ACHIEVEMENTS and SUCCESS, have been trying to ‘Target’ me for a long period of time, and they’re using Josh Hawley, who I got elected TWICE, as a pawn to help them.
“I wonder why Hawley would pass a Bill that Nancy Pelosi is in absolute love with — He is playing right into the dirty hands of the Democrats. It’s a great Bill for her, and her “husband,” but so bad for our Country! I don’t think real Republicans want to see their President, who has had unprecedented success, TARGETED, because of the “whims” of a second-tier Senator named Josh Hawley!”