As a proposed ban on congressional stock trading continues to be debated, five more Republican members of Congress appear to have violated federal financial disclosure law — some disclosing millions of dollars in trades more than a year-and-a-half late.
Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Darin LaHood (R-IL), John James (R-MI), Thomas Kean Jr. (R-NJ) and Michael McCaul (R-TX) all were late in disclosing financial transactions as required by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK Act).
The Obama-era law requires members of Congress to disclose within 45 days most purchases, sales and exchanges of stocks, bonds, commodity futures, securities and cryptocurrencies made by themselves, their spouses or dependent children in the name of preventing insider trading, curbing conflicts-of-interest and enhancing transparency.
LaHood was the most tardy with his disclosure, reporting a November 2022 sale of stock in West Suburban Bancorp more than 20 months late.
The trade was valued between $1,001 and $15,000. (Lawmakers are only required by law to disclose the values of their transactions in broad ranges.)
LaHood’s congressional office did not immediately respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.
Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) spoke about government funding and President Biden's meeting with Chinese President Xi on C-SPAN on Nov. 15, 2023. (C-SPAN)
James had the most late disclosures by far, failing to disclose 145 stock trades on time, The Detroit News reported. The oldest transactions reported by James on Sept. 2 were from November 2023, disclosed more than eight months past the federal deadline.
Campaign finance reform political action committee, End Citizens United, filed a complaint against James with the House Committee on Ethics about the late transactions valued up to $2.2 million.
“Rep. James kept the public in the dark on millions of dollars of stock trades and his own personal finances and must be held accountable,” said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United, in a press release. “His blatant disregard for the law, which he is clearly well aware of, is unacceptable and shows he cannot be trusted.”
James was also nearly three months late disclosing an April 25, 2024 trade of TJX stock on his Sept. 6 financial disclosure.
James’ congressional office did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.
“Last year, the trust’s administrator switched mutual funds to stocks and John was not aware of this. We learned about this last month when preparing this disclosure. The trust administrator has now divested all stocks and we will be filing information reflecting those sales shortly,” James spokesperson Noah Sadlier said in a statement to The Detroit News on Sept. 6.
Issa was late reporting 19 sales of U.S. Treasury bills, some more than six months late. The transactions are valued between $71 million and $355 million total.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) speaks during House Judiciary Committee field hearing on New York City violent crimes at Javits Federal Building in New York City on April 17, 2023(Photo by lev radin/Shutterstock)
Issa’s congressional office did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.
Kean, who has violated the STOCK Act in the past, was four days late disclosing on Sept. 20 the purchase of stock in industrial technology conglomerate, Fortive.
Kean was previously more than nine months late disclosing in an August 2024 sale of an asset in New Jersey bank, Regal Bancorp, and in September 2023, he was as much as four months late disclosing six personal stock transactions, totaling up to $90,000.
"This filing is not late but instead is within the grace period established by the Ethics Committee for just such purposes," Dan Scharfenberger, chief of staff for Kean, told Raw Story via email.
A Jan. 2023 memo from the House Committee on Ethics indicates that a financial disclosure filed after the 45-day deadline is still late, but the standard $200 fine will not be immediately assessed.
"A PTR is late if submitted any time after the due date, but there is a 30-day grace period before late fees are imposed," the memo says.
McCaul was a day late in disclosing six transactions from a spouse and dependent child on Sept. 16, valued between $218,006 to $595,000 total.
Rep. Michael McCaul speaks during a House session on Sept. 25, 2024, where a bill to fund the government beyond the September 30 deadline until December 20, 2024 was approved. (C-SPAN)
Elliot Berke, attorney for McCaul, told Raw Story via an email statement, that all reports for the congressman were filed on time "to the best of our knowledge" and no fees had been assessed.
"I am in contact with the House Ethics Committee, which appreciates the complexity of Congressman McCaul’s financial disclosure given the volume of trades in his spouse’s and children’s managed accounts. If any amendments are required, they will be filed in consultation with the Ethics Committee. I am in touch with the House Ethics Committee on a proactive basis to ensure strict compliance," Berke said. "Congressman McCaul did not purchase these stocks and had no advanced knowledge of the purchase. Rather, his wife has assets she solely owns, and a third-party manager made the purchases without her direction."
McCaul, James, Issa and LaHood join Kean on a list of more than 62 members of the 118th Congress who Raw Story found to have violated the STOCK Act, mostly with late financial disclosures.
Other lawmakers have reported stock trades that potentially conflict with their official responsibilities, such as lawmakers who trade defense contractor stock while sitting on a congressional committee with defense oversight responsibilities.
Numerous bills have been introduced in recent years to effectively ban stock trading for members of Congress or increase the penalties for violations.
None have yet gotten a floor vote, and during the past three years, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been one of the biggest obstacles to previous stock ban bills advancing.
The latest progress toward a congressional stock trading ban came in July when the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act advanced out of a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs markup with an eight to four vote, with Republican senators divided on how to proceed.
The ETHICS Act proposes an immediate ban on members of Congress buying stocks and would prohibit them from selling stocks 90 days after enactment. Members’ spouses and dependent children would be prohibited from trading stocks starting in March 2027, which is when the president and vice president would also be required to divest from covered investments such as securities, commodities, futures, options and trusts.
