Ethics Watchdog Calls for Investigation into Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal over Alleged STOCK Act Violations

An ethics watchdog organization called for an investigation into Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection Chairman Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) for allegedly violating federal conflict of interest law.

The nonprofit Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee over Blumenthal’s family trades of Robinhood stock. The complaint alleges Blumenthal violated the STOCK Act, which requires members of Congress and their spouses to disclose transactions valued at $1,000 or higher within 30-45 days.

The complaint said:

The Senate Select Committee on Ethics must act to ensure Senators comply with the most basic ethics requirements to maintain the public’s trust. Senator Blumenthal’s stock trades and any failure to comply with federal law must be investigated and appropriate sanctions imposed.

Congress passed the STOCK Act in 2012 after Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer released Throw Them All Out, which exposed corruption among political officials.

The Washington Free Beacon reported that Blumenthal and his wife sold “between $1,265,000 and $2,550,000 worth of shares of Robinhood in the last quarter of 2021.” On December 8, the Blumenthals sold “between $265,000 and $550,000 worth of Robinhood shares” but did not disclose the sale until February 2 — 56 days later.

“Blumenthal’s stock trades raise conflict of interest concerns and, to make matters worse, Blumenthal failed to disclose his trades as required by the very laws intended to reveal conflicts of interest,” FACT’s complaint alleged.

According to Blumenthal’s financial disclosures, he and his wife purchased “between $500,000 and $1,000,000 of Robinhood shares” on February 1, 2021, through Blumenthal’s wife’s family fund, the Peter L. Malkin Family fund. Coincidentally, Blumenthal called on Congress to investigate the so-called “meme-stock” trading patterns driven by consumer purchases made on Robinhood’s mobile app.

FACT’s executive director Kendra Arnold said:

Timely reporting stock trades is one of the most fundamental ethics laws, and there is no excuse for Senators to violate it. The disclosure law reveals conflicts of interest, including whether a Senator uses non-public information for personal gain and, on the other hand, how a Senator’s personal investments may skew their decision-making on an official action. The ethics laws are essential for maintaining credibility and instilling public trust, and a major element of this is full and timely disclosure.

A spokesperson for Sen. Blumenthal said that he “owns no individual stocks and his wife has no influence or control over her assets, which are primarily held in family trusts.”