Read the full story here. Washington Free Beacon
“The Free Beacon reports on CoA’s letter to the House and Senate Ethics Committees regarding potential insider trading by Congressional staffers.
“A watchdog group is taking lawmakers and their underlings to task for insider trading.
Cause of Action, a nonpartisan transparency group, is demanding an investigation into allegations that congressional staffers have used legislative information to make lucrative stock investments.
‘There was a lot of focus on the members of Congress,’ said Mary Beth Hutchins, a spokeswoman for Cause of Action. ‘Our concern is that there is potential for staffers, as well as the members.’
Insider trading moved from Wall Street to Capitol Hill following the publication of Peter Schweizer’s Throw Them All Out, which documented numerous instances of congressmen and senators making suspicious financial transactions. The revelation led to an ethics investigation into the finances of Rep. Spencer Bachus (R., Ala.).
What many in the public do not realize, Hutchins said, is that the problem extends beyond elected officials.
‘We think that the taxpayers have the right to know that their tax dollars are being used properly,’ Hutchins said. ‘We thought it was important to look back and show the public what has happened in the past—what these staffers have done.’
The group sent a letter, which cited a Wall Street Journal study that found 72 suspect government employees, to ethics committees in both branches of Congress and both parties.
A Cause of Action review of financial disclosure forms found two staffers on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural resources who traded energy stocks and a senior staffer at the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, who traded in tobacco.”
