Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida explained his decision to team up with Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to introduce a piece of legislation Tuesday.
Gaetz and Ocasio-Cortez joined Republican Rep. Brian Fitzgerald of Pennsylvania and Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois to introduce the Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act, which would prohibit members of Congress and their immediate family members from engaging in stock trades, according to a release by Fitzpatrick’s office.
“AOC is wrong a lot. She would probably say the same thing about me,” Gaetz told Fox News host Jesse Watters. “But she is not corrupt and I will work with anyone and everyone to ensure that Congress is not so compromised. We should disallow congressional stock trading for the same reason we don’t allow the referee to bet on the game.”
Watters earlier discussed trades reportedly made by Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel of Florida centering around First Republic Bank, which was shut down by regulators early Monday morning and sold to J.P. Morgan Chase.
“Just days before First Republic imploded, Florida Democrat Lois Frankel dumped her shares in the company. Frankel unloaded the stock at $34 a share. Four days later, the stock was trading at 12 bucks apiece,” Watters said. “But Frankel wasn’t finished. First Republic just got bought up by J.P. Morgan and guess who bought shares of J.P. Morgan right before the bank scooped up First Republic? That’s right, Florida Democrat Lois Frankel. Shares are up nearly 15 bucks since then. So, Frankel’s on both sides of the trade right before the news breaks both times.”
Frankel is not the only member of Congress to face scrutiny over stock trades. Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California came under fire after her husband Paul bought 20,000 shares of a company making computer chips shortly before the Senate passed the CHIPS Act.
Pelosi fled from the podium when questioned by reporters about her husband’s trades in July.
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama also came under scrutiny for buying over a quarter million dollars’ worth of stock in Intel prior to passage of the CHIPS Act, even though he voted against the bill.
“About one in every four members of Congress is doing this and it’s not exactly like I’m elected with a bunch of Gordon Gekkos and Bobby Axelrods,” Gaetz said.
