- GOP Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas says that congressional transparency is important.
- But he failed to properly disclose up to $105,000 in stock trades, federal documents indicate.
- Sessions is against banning members of Congress from trading stocks.
Republican Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas argues transparency and accountability are paramount when it comes to federal lawmakers trading stocks.
"If you have nothing to hide, then transparency is your friend," Sessions said in a statement to Insider last month. "I am for Congress deliberating and developing more mechanisms that will uphold integrity and instill confidence in the minds of Americans."
But the 11-term congressman appears to have violated a federal conflicts-of-interest and transparency law by not properly reporting seven of his own stock trades from 2021, according to a personal financial disclosure he filed in February with the US House. The trades together are valued between $7,001 and $105,000, and the most tardy was four months overdue.
Under the 2012 Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, members of Congress are supposed to publicly disclose a trade 30 to 45 days after it occurs, depending on when they learned about it.
Sessions was already out of synch with many of his colleagues when he chose to push for enhanced transparency rather than restrictions on members of Congress trading individual stocks altogether. The issue has gained significant bipartisan interest on Capitol Hill, and a House hearing to debate the merits of a trading ban is scheduled to take place March 16.
Sessions' disclosures show he bought up to $30,000 in Microsoft stock in September 2021. In November, he traded up to $30,000 in Blackrock Utility, Infrastructure, and Power Utility stock; up to $15,000 of stock in Kroger, a grocery store chain; and up to $15,000 of stock in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. He also sold up to $15,000 in Costco shares in November, though his report shows he still retains stock in the company.
Lawmakers are required only to report their trades in broad ranges, making an exact dollar figure difficult to pinpoint without Sessions himself sharing the figure with Insider.
Nicole Myers, Sessions' spokesperson, did not have an immediate explanation for Sessions' personal financial disclosure, which also incorrectly lists Sessions as representing Texas' 32nd District — he did from 2003 to 2019 — rather than the 17th District, which he currently represents. Sessions office said it was in communication with the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, which handles the filings.
Members of Congress who blow past the deadlines are supposed to pay a late fee of $200 the first time they're late. Increasingly higher fines follow if they continue to be late — potentially costing tens of thousands of dollars in extreme cases. But Insider's reporting has found that rules are rarely enforced, especially in the House.
"The mere fact that members of Congress and senior staff are continuing to violate the disclosure requirements of the STOCK Act clearly shows the enforcement penalties in the STOCK Act and the monitoring are insufficient," said Craig Holman, an ethics lobbyist for Public Citizen who successfully pushed for the passage of the STOCK Act in 2012.
This is the second time in a year that Sessions has been late reporting his stock trades. In 2021, Sessions was about a month late reporting up to $15,000 worth of stock in retail giant Amazon.
Sessions, who sits on the House Committee on Financial Services and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, wouldn't have faced a late fee over the Amazon disclosure because lawmakers have a 30-day grace period before a fine is levied. But his office did not say whether he was penalized or paid a fine over the most recent tardy report.
Congress weighing tighter restrictions against a ban
Sessions has said it's time for lawmakers to be more transparent about their trades in light at least 1 in 10 members of Congress failing to do so.
But unlike many of his colleagues, he's publicly opposed broader reforms that would restrict or ban members of Congress from trading stocks.
When asked about it on in January on MSNBC's "Stephanie Ruhle Reports," he said the push for a ban from his colleagues was part of a "populist move" in Congress.
"I think we have enough rules and regulations," he said.
In contrast, several of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle say it's time for an overhaul.
Insider's "Conflicted Congress" project found that dozens of lawmakers and at least 182 senior congressional staffers had failed to comply with the reporting requirements of the STOCK Act.
It also found numerous examples of conflicts of interest, including that four members of Congress or their spouses have either currently or recently invested money in Russian companies at a time when Russia has invaded Ukraine.
Holman said the pile-up of violations showed lawmakers were "unconcerned" about following the law.
"Disclosure is good, but it's not sufficient," he said. "We have to take that extra step and ban members of Congress from trading stock in office altogether."
On MSNBC and in a statement provided to Insider in February, Sessions said voters were more concerned about issues such as soaring inflation, rising crime rates, and border security.
But Holman said that voters do care about whether their representatives are trading stocks.
"That's a bunch of hooey," he said when asked about Sessions' comments about voters "There have been public opinion polls on this. At least 67 polled favored clamping down on stock trading activity and I suspect the real public sentiment will even be stronger once more Americans learn about the abuses going on."
Campaigns also are finding that the issue holds a lot of salience for voters. Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff and Rafael Warnock won their seats in Georgia after they repeatedly skewered their Republican opponents, then-Sen. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, over their personal stock portfolios. Financial disclosures showed Loeffler and Perdue dumped millions of dollars in stocks after receiving private briefings about the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, even House Republicans are using the same playbook in their bid to win back the lower chamber in 2022. Several Democrats who have violated the STOCK Act are in vulnerable districts.
"The public is demanding that members of Congress don't use their official positions for personal gain," Holman said.