Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives and one of the Democrat party bosses, has found herself at the centre of an insider-trading financial scandal
Her husband “successfully” bought options on Microsoft shares at $130 apiece, whose value has soared a month later.
The explanation is simple: Microsoft has a multi-billion dollar contract with the Pentagon to supply augmented reality helmets. Pelosi, a participant in a closed-door congressional military hearing, could not have been unaware of this. And she easily monetised her knowledge.
There was already a similar scandal a year ago. Senators were frantically selling stocks just before the stock market crashed in March 2020. At the same time they assured the public that the situation was under control and there was no need to fear the outbreak of the “Chinese virus”.
The “privateers” who are caught doing this are sent to jail. But as always, an exception is made for the political elite – they are allowed to make money at the expense of insider information.
In 2011, there was an attempt to limit their privileges when the scale of insider trading in the Congress was exposed. Both Pelosi and John Kerry, who made his fortune on trading in health insurers’ stocks during the passage of Obama era reforms, faced criticism then.
True, at the time, they only limited themselves to banning relatives of the nomenklatura from insider trading. And this means that Pelosi’s husband knowingly broke the law.
However, we should hardly expect him to be arrested. If anything, they will make innocent eyes and say – well, it is just a coincidence that Microsoft signed the largest contract in its history with the US authorities, and the husband of the third person in the US government hierarchy purchased their shares in advance.
But such scandals make it easier for the Republicans to convince voters that the top Democrats are all corrupt elitists. And thus, in the next election in a year and a half, deprive Pelosi of a shaky majority in Congress and with it the post of Speaker.
Malek Dudakov