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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gaetz and Ocasio-Cortez joined<\/a> Republican Rep. Brian Fitzgerald of Pennsylvania and Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois to introduce<\/a> 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<\/a> by Fitzpatrick\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAOC is wrong a lot. She would probably say the same thing about me,\u201d Gaetz told Fox News host Jesse Watters. \u201cBut 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\u2019t allow the referee to bet on the game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Watters earlier discussed trades reportedly made by Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel of Florida centering around First Republic Bank, which was\u00a0shut down<\/a>\u00a0by regulators early Monday morning and sold to J.P. Morgan Chase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust 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,\u201d Watters said. \u201cBut Frankel wasn\u2019t 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\u2019s right, Florida Democrat Lois Frankel. Shares are up nearly 15 bucks since then. So, Frankel\u2019s on both sides of the trade right before the news breaks both times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/a> 20,000 shares of a company making computer chips shortly before the Senate passed the CHIPS Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pelosi fled<\/a> from the podium when questioned by reporters about her husband\u2019s trades in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama also came under scrutiny for buying<\/a> over a quarter million dollars\u2019 worth of stock in Intel prior to passage of the CHIPS Act, even though he voted against the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbout one in every four members of Congress is doing this and it\u2019s not exactly like I\u2019m elected with a bunch of Gordon Gekkos and Bobby Axelrods,\u201d Gaetz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n