“Unwilling to impose rules on themselves that they have on others in government, 130 congressional lawmakers have invested in company stocks while making legislative decisions impacting the very same corporate interests.
Federal laws adopted by Congress forbid officials in the Executive Branch from trading stocks in industries overseen by their agencies. But the same restrictions don’t apply to lawmakers.
As a result, during a three-year span, representatives and senators, 68 Democrats and 62 Republicans, traded stocks valued between $85 million and $218 million in 323 companies registered to lobby on legislation that appeared before them, according to The Washington Post.
The Post found that more than 5,500 trades “intersected with legislation” that a company cared about.”
