Watchdog Demands Investigation into Dem Welch's Stock Transaction

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a non-partisan ethics watchdog organization, demanded an investigation into Rep. Peter Welch’s (D-VT) stock transactions after he allegedly failed to adequately disclose his wife’s ExxonMobil stock sales while just days before grilling the CEO on Capitol Hill.

The watchdog filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) asking for a probe into Welch — who is currently running for the open senate seat in Vermont after Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) announced he would not seek a ninth term last month — for failing to disclose his wife’s thousands of dollars in stock transactions.

He is required to submit a periodic transaction report with the clerk in the House of Representatives within 30 to 45 days after he or his wife makes transitions over $1,000 under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012, which his wife performed by selling thousands of dollars in ExxonMobil stock.

Three days after Welch learned of the trades, on October 28, Welch “grilled” the company’s CEO during a congressional hearing for the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. The congressman, who has criticized ExxonMobil for years, accused the company of withholding information about climate change and having a credibility issue.

Welsch did not file a periodic transaction report with the clerk of the House until November 9.

Welch’s spokesperson added that throughout his career, he has “been an unflinching champion for the environment” and that the congressman has supported the bill introduced in March that would prohibit members from buying a selling any stocks:

Throughout his career, Rep. Welch has been an unflinching champion for the environment, including increasing the deployment of renewable energy resources and being a leading advocate for ending subsidies to fossil fuel producers like Exxon and transitioning away from the use of fossil fuels to address climate change. … This transaction had no impact on his line of questioning towards ExxonMobil’s chief executive officer about the company’s negligence and failure to disclose internal documents warning of the dangers of climate change.

FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold said in a press release:

Rep. Welch has been a member of Congress for nearly 15 years and is well aware of the financial reporting requirements. What makes this case egregious, beyond the violation itself, is that his office acknowledged that he knew of the transaction prior to the reporting deadline and not only missed it, but grilled the ExxonMobil CEO about transparency and credibility just days later. The OCE must fully investigate this violation and apply the requisite penalties.

“The failure of Members to follow the most basic ethics rules they created leads to public distrust in our elected officials as a whole,” FACT’s complaint said. “Moreover, the lack of any consequence for Members who break the law leads to the public perception that the laws do not apply equally to all.”

In 2012, Congress quickly passed the STOCK Act and signed it into law after it received substantial bipartisan support in both chambers. The legislation was introduced and promptly signed into law thanks to Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer, who in 2011 released Throw Them All Out, exposing corruption in the highest echelons of elected life.

Schweizer’s book, which exposed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and many others, revealed corruption concerns among Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, forcing Congress into adopting the STOCK Act that implemented stricter reporting and ethics requirements.

With only a year into the current 117th Congress, there have already been over 15 Democrats serving who have been accused of violating the STOCK Act, many of whom have had ethics complaints sent to the OCE asking for an investigation.

A full copy of the FACT’s complaint against Higgins can be found here.