What Does It Mean To Be The ‘Good Guys’ If You Shield The Crooks?

When the Rot Is Bipartisan, So Is the Blame

New Jersey seems to grow 'em

By any measure, Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) is one of Congress’ most corrupt members, a man driven entirely by money in every aspect of his shady career. It would surprise no one that he’s one of the big stock traders in the House, violating rules and regulations as though he were a Republican to enrich himself. An analysis in September 2022 revealed that over a three-year period, he engaged in trades involving 326 companies, with 43 of these presenting potential conflicts of interest. This extensive trading activity has raised concerns about the adequacy of existing disclosure requirements and the potential for conflicts between personal financial interests and legislative responsibilities. He had already announced his intention, the February before, to establish a blind trust to manage his assets, aiming to prevent any direct involvement in investment decisions. Despite this pledge, as of August 2022, there was no formal establishment of such a trust according to House records. Furthermore, by June 2024, the statement regarding this pledge had been removed from his official House website.  

Last December he disclosed transactions involving $40 million in Microsoft stock options. Given his prior employment with Microsoft, these trades attracted attention and raised questions about potential conflicts of interest. Many of his colleagues think Gottheimer gives congressional Democrats a bad name and would like to see him leave the House, either voluntarily or by going to prison.

There are few Democrats as bad as Gottheimer… but there are some, including Nancy Pelosi, making it even harder for the Democrats as a party to clean up their image. And now Hakeem Jeffries wants to try— in time for the midterms. Yesterday, Nicholas Wu reported that “The market turmoil surrounding Trump’s tariffs has supercharged Democratic attacks on politicians’ investment activity, with top lawmakers calling for investigations of White House officials and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries embracing a ban on trading of individual stocks. Their attacks crystallized this week after public disclosures revealed that Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) had purchased stocks during a tariff-induced dip in the market earlier this month. Those securities quickly rose in value after Trump announced a partial reversal of his tariff plans. More trading disclosures are expected in the coming weeks; members have 45 days to reveal most stock transactions under congressional rules. And while it’s unlikely that the trading was limited to Republicans, Democrats are discarding their past qualms and preparing to hammer GOP leaders on the issue. ‘I would say if the Republicans want to insulate themselves from a political fallout of this issue, then the best thing that they could do is bring the bill to the floor before and let us have a vote,’ said Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI), the co-author of a bill that would ban member trading of individual stocks. ‘They have total control of government. The ball is in their court.’”

Once it was in the Democrats’ court though and their Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer, opposed stock trading bans, helping paint a picture that both parties stand for corruption and self-dealing, even if the Republicans are worse.

Jeffries’ decision to seize on Greene’s trades and call for a ban represents a big move at the pinnacle of the Democratic caucus after his predecessor as leader, Nancy Pelosi, initially threw some cold water on the push when she held the speaker’s gavel. His embrace of the proposal could put it near the top of the party’s legislative priority list if Democrats can win a majority in November 2026.

Democrats are banking on the resonance of the issue amid broader economic chaos as they build their midterm case against Republicans. Recent polling that’s circulated among Democrats showed that Americans in battleground districts almost universally supported banning lawmakers from trading stocks. And several stock-trading bills have bipartisan support, including Magaziner’s, which he co-introduced with Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and has been cosponsored by 10 other Republicans.

Trump “would be interested in looking at” a stock trading ban proposal, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday.

… Democrats haven’t always been on the same page on the issue, with previous efforts to ban stock trading devolving into infighting.

Pelosi at first pushed back on some of the efforts to restrict member stock trading and was skeptical of the need for an outright ban. She later [pretended to] reverse course, saying she was “okay with it” if the caucus wanted to do so.

Under the 2012 STOCK Act, members of Congress are required to report transactions over $1,000 within 45 days. Still, plenty of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have run afoul of the reporting requirements.

Democrats called quickly for investigations of possible insider trading amid the market swings last week, despite a lack of any evidence that any White House or congressional official had traded on nonpublic information. Without committee gavels, Democrats don’t have many options to force an investigation.

Trump posted April 9 on his Truth Social platform that it was a “GREAT TIME TO BUY,” before announcing hours later that he was delaying many of the tariffs he’d announced a week prior, causing the stock market to temporarily rally.

According to this week’s disclosures, Greene purchased between $21,000 and $315,000 worth of 19 individual stocks on April 8 and 9, including Tesla, Palantir, Apple and Amazon. She also sold Treasury securities valued between $50,000 and $100,000 on the 8th.

Speaking to reporters after a town hall meeting Tuesday, Greene said she was not directly responsible for the trades. “I don’t place my buys myself,” she said, according  to Rough Draft Atlanta. “That’s something that my portfolio manager does for me, and he did a great job. Guess what he did? He bought the dip.”

Jeffries hasn’t specified which of the competing stock ban proposals he would support or bring to the floor if he were speaker, but many in his caucus have already coalesced around the bipartisan Magaziner-Roy proposal that would require lawmakers to divest their individual stocks or place their holdings into a blind trust.

A Jeffries spokesperson said he has supported previous efforts to ban member stock trading, which also include similar legislation led by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), and that he looked forward to consulting other Democratic lawmakers and congressional committees.

“I think that Leader Jeffries is acknowledging where the American people are, and also rank and file members of Congress who want this,” Magaziner said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has [pretended to have] been supportive of restricting member stock trading  in the past but has not committed to supporting a particular proposal. He sidestepped a question about it at a news conference Tuesday, instead addressing his prior call for a probe of Trump allies.

“I have asked that there be a full investigation of insider trading of people who knew before Donald Trump announced he was going to do a cutback on tariffs who invested those stocks and made money illegally,” Schumer told reporters Tuesday.

No senators have yet disclosed any stock transactions from this month, including the period when Trump announced his global “reciprocal” tariffs then reversed some of them.

I spoke with the progressive Democrat running for the seat Pelosi represents, Saikat Chakrabarti, who, naturally enough, has put a lot of thought into this. “86% of Americans, including 87% of REPUBLICANS, want to ban members of Congress from owning or trading stock,” he told me. “This is an overwhelmingly bipartisan issue. Democrats have a huge opportunity right now because the Trump administration is the most corrupt administration in our history. And all around the world, corrupt administrations have been completely swept out in elections when challenged by parties campaigning on anti-corruption. The problem, of course, is that many people view Democrats, including Pelosi, as being a part of the problem and making money off insider stock trading. They don't have the legitimacy currently to be a true anti-corruption party. Whether Democrats are insider trading or not doesn't matter. The mere perception of corruption in Congress has eroded faith in our institutions for decades, and that is a big reason why Trump was able to win on a campaign to ‘drain the swamp.’ Republicans claim they aren't insider trading and that they are against corruption. Great. Democrats should file a discharge petition to force a floor vote on the bipartisan bill to ban members of Congress from owning or trading stock today. It will force Republicans to put their money where their mouth is— and also prove to Americans that Democrats do, in fact, stand against corruption.”

Democrats who are sincere about ethics, democracy or the public good— and there are plenty— cannot continue turning a blind eye to the rot within their own ranks. It’s laughable— if it weren’t so infuriating— that the same party figures who feign moral outrage at GOP corruption are perfectly content to enable people like Josh Gottheimer, a man whose financial dealings would make Clarence Thomas blush. If Gottheimer had an “R” next to his name, liberal pundits would be foaming at the mouth over his grotesque entanglements. But because he has a “D,” the leadership class shrugs— or worse, rewards him with influence and plum committee assignments.

And it’s not just Gottheimer. Pelosi’s ongoing defense of the indefensible, her commitment to preserving the status quo for the ultra-wealthy, and her repeated sabotage of progressives reveal the rot goes far deeper than one bad actor. When she publicly fawns over him and lends her considerable weight to undermining primary challengers from the left, it becomes crystal clear: this isn’t just about individual bad apples. It’s systemic. It’s institutional. And it’s intentional.

So when Democrats try to position themselves as the party of ethics or democracy, it’s worth remembering who they protect, who they platform, and who they crush. A party that tolerates— no, embraces— the likes of Gottheimer and Pelosi has no credibility to lecture anyone about moral clarity or principled leadership. The stench of hypocrisy is choking, and until it’s called out and rooted out, the rot, unfortunately, will only deepen and make the Democrats look as bad as the Republicans. It's just another version of the disgusting crypto-cartel dealings of both parties.