Pelosi Defends Members of Congress Trading Stocks: It’s a ‘Free Market’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Wednesday she believed members of Congress should be allowed to trade stocks despite ethical questions, citing the “free market.”

Pelosi, who routinely makes headlines with her husband for their prophetic ability to making winning trades, made the comment in response to a reporter who asked about a Business Insider story based on a five-month review that found a large number of lawmakers and their staffers had been late filing financial disclosures detailing their trades. “Should members of Congress and their spouses be banned from trading individual stocks while serving in Congress?” the reporter asked.

“No,” Pelosi replied. “We have a responsibility to report on the stock, but I’m not familiar with that five-month review. But if people aren’t reporting, they should be.”

The reporter persisted amid muffled crosstalk after Pelosi finished, prompting her to add, “Because this is a free market. We’re a free-market economy. They should be able to participate in that.”

Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, both 81, most recently made news for their trading activity in January, when they purchased between $500,000 and $1 million in call options in Tesla stock at a strike price of $500.The stock hit a new historical high last month in excess of $1,200. And last year, by one estimate, the couple made a 45.59 percent return on stocks, along with a 66.7 percent return on options trading.

Pelosi was worth $115 million in 2020, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, up from $41 million in 2004. She was first elected to Congress in 1987, when members received a salary of $89,500, and first elected speaker in 2007. She presently draws a salary of $223,500 from that position.

Business Insider’s Wednesday report found 49 members of Congress, along with 182 Capitol Hill staffers, who were late to submit disclosures about their trades in 2020 and 2021, which are required under the STOCK Act. They face a $200 fine for first offenses under the law, an amount that can increase over time. However, congressional ethics staff refused to confirm whether any of the rogue traders had been fined.

Watch above via the House of Representatives.