Maryland Democrat Leader Lands In Hot Water – Rep. Raskin May Have Committed a $1.5M Violation of the STOCK Act
It has been a big topic of debate in recent months: politicians and the stock market. And overall, America has been looking more closely at how our elected representatives accumulate their wealth.
Some are saying those in positions of political power shouldn’t be able to trade stock, for instance. Others point toward existing laws that too many elected officials break on a routine basis.
And now it seems one Maryland Democrat might be in direct violation of the “STOCK Act.”
The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act requires all members of Congress to report any assets of over $1,000, earned by themselves or their spouses. Congress passed this law back in 2012.
The idea is that politicians shouldn’t be able to hide their assets and transactions from Washington or the American public.
But Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) apparently didn’t follow this rule, and now he faces potential punishment. The first report comes courtesy of Business Insider, where they referenced a “massive payout.”
And as Breitbart reported:
Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) allegedly violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act by failing to disclose his wife’s $1.5 million stock payout.
It took Rep. Raskin 8 months to finally report his wife’s sale of 195,936 shares of Reserve Trust, where she was on the advisory board. This netted Sarah Bloom Raskin a hefty $1.5 million profit.
Interestingly, Sarah Raskin is a President Joe Biden nominee; he nominated her for vice chairwoman of supervision at the Federal Reserve. Obviously, this is a crucial and high-ranking financial position.
But there appears to be a serious reporting issue on the part of Rep. Raskin.
The report says he never disclosed his wife’s Reserve Trust holdings while serving on the advisory board between 2017 and 2019. This could be a violation of the aforementioned STOCK Act.
However, Raskin claims he filed late due to the death of their son, who passed away on December 31, 2020.
Even so, investigators will still have questions for both Raskin and his wife. There are simply too many politicians raking in immense sums of money, often using the stock market to amass these riches.
And when this happens, people start to wonder how they all seem to do so well with stocks. They also wonder why more of this activity isn’t visible.
That’s why something like the STOCK Act is so important, and why all elected officials should follow its lead. Not all members of Capitol Hill are subject to its rules, but many say the law makes logical sense.
As for Raskin and his wife, we’ll have to wait and see if their explanation holds enough weight to avoid any consequences.
Key Takeaways:
- Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin might be in violation of the STOCK Act.
- Raskin is accused of not reporting his wife’s $1.5M stock payout.
- The couple blames this on the death of their son, but that may not be enough to convince investigators.
Source: Breitbart
Ben Dutka
Ben S. Dutka is a journalist, writer and editor with over two decades of experience. He has worked with three newspapers and eight online publications, and he has also won a Connecticut short story contest entitled Art as Muse, Imaginary Realms. He has a penchant for writing, rowing, reading, video games, and Objectivism.
Ben S. Dutka is a journalist, writer and editor with over two decades of experience. He has worked with three newspapers and eight online publications, and he has also won a Connecticut short story contest entitled Art as Muse, Imaginary Realms. He has a penchant for writing, rowing, reading, video games, and Objectivism.
