California Democrat Nancy Pelosi was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1987.
Over the years, Pelosi gradually rose through the ranks of the Democratic Party and became the top Democrat in the lower chamber in 2007.
Currently serving as Speaker of the House, Pelosi is reportedly worth well over $100 million. Her husband, Paul Pelosi, is a businessman and investor.
Critics now claim that the Pelosis make money through insider trading.
Some Democrats allegedly want to introduce a ban on lawmaker stock trading next month. Pelosi initially said she would oppose any such bill, but appears to have softened her stance in recent weeks.
According to Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, however, Pelosi should have no say in the matter.
"I think we have to do a thorough investigation and look at what is the proper role for members of Congress and what influence they have, and I don’t think the proper way to do this is Nancy Pelosi writing the bill because we have proven that she can’t do that," McCarthy told reporters, according to The Hill.
Pelosi's husband Paul sold his shares of chipmaker Nvidia days before the House approved a bill providing subsidies and tax credits to the U.S. semiconductor industry.
This is deeply problematic, according to McCarthy.
"Look, I think the Speaker of the House has greater determination of what comes to the floor, what gets out of the committee. And her husband didn’t just trade stock, he traded options," the Republican leader said.
"When she said she never told him anything, I know they spent their time together overseas and when they’re coming back, I’m sure she had conversations on the phone about what was gonna be on the floor," he added.
Pelosi's spokesman Drew Hammill said in a statement that Paul Pelosi "does not discuss" stocks with his wife and accused the media of spreading "misinformation."
Hammill described McCarthy's comments as "ridiculous."
"The Minority Leader’s ridiculous comments aside, insider trading is already a federal criminal and civil violation and the Speaker strongly supports robust enforcement of the relevant statutes by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission," he said.
In 2021, according to Business Insider, Paul Pelosi bought the shares of Alphabet (Google's parent company), Amazon, American Express, and Apple, to name a few.
In 2022, he bought PayPal, Tesla, Visa, Disney, and Warner Bros shares.
According to Business Insider, the "vast majority" of Pelosi's wealth is derived from stocks and investments made by the speaker's husband.
