WASHINGTON, DC - Paul Pelosi’s stock trading activities are a puzzle that would challenge even Nostradamus. His uncanny ability to trade stocks just before major announcements about the companies he's trading is a mystery. Is it a stroke of luck, insider information, or something more? The public is left to wonder.
His most recent magic trick came about when he sold over $500,000 worth of stock in Visa–only three months before that company was slapped with federal antitrust charges by the Department of Justice, according to public documents, the New York Post reported.
According to a lawsuit filed this week, Visa illegally monopolized the debit card market. This was the culmination of a multi-year review by the DOJ’s antitrust unit. The suit alleges Visa used its dominant position in the market to penalize customers and merchants to punish customers and merchants who used other payment processors, the court papers said.
The antitrust unit also alleges that Visa forced financial tech firms to work alongside it by threatening to penalize those that didn’t.
The Post reached out to Visa for comment, however none was received.
The sale of Visa stock as it was preparing to be sued under federal antitrust charges is just the latest in Paul Pelosi’s amazing string of timely stock transactions. The latest trade was uncovered by Christopher Josephs, who runs the “Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker” on X. He posted a screenshot of a July 3 congressional filing showing Pelosi sold 2,000 shares of Visa stock valued at between $500,000 and $1 million.
According to the transaction form, Pelosi’s transaction is marked as “SP” (spouse), a reference to Paul Pelosi, a San Francisco-based venture capitalist and real estate investor. At the time Pelosi launched the Visa stock, there was no public notice that the company was under investigation or that a federal antitrust action against the company was imminent, The Post said.
The Post reached out to Nancy Pelosi’s office, which claimed she “does not own any stocks” nor did she have “prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions.” Of course, that excuse is absurd, since by virtue of the couple being married any assets would be held jointly.
Critics have long criticized Pelosi and other DC lawmakers for their apparent ability to time stock purchases or sales around government-sanctioned actions against companies. They have particularly criticized Pelosi due to her position as the former Speaker of the House.
“At various critical inflection points in our history, members of our government have engaged in trading at at time which their conflicts are called into question,” Ron Geffner, a former enforcement attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), told The Post.
Geffner also cautioned that the appearance of any hijinks should be “tempered” when other factors are considered.
“Before public opinion judges Pelosi unfairly, it is important to determine who engaged in the transaction on her behalf as well as whether it was part of a broader change of her portfolio,” Geffner continued.
The same disclosure showed that Pelosi sold 2,500 shares of Tesla while buying stock in Nvidia and Broadcom.
Nancy Pelosi is one of the richest members of Congress and remains one of the leaders of the Democratic caucus in the House, despite stepping down as House Minority Leader last year. Her net worth is estimated at nine figures primarily due to the Pelosi’s vast stock and investment portfolio.
While some lawmakers have called for a ban on legislators and their spouses from trading stock due to potential conflicts of interest, Pelosi has resisted. This resistance raises concerns and prompts the public to question the ethics of such trading practices.
The Financial Times reported that in 2021, Visa revealed in a regulatory filing that the DOJ’s antitrust unit had requested information on possible violations of laws concerning competitive behavior in the marketplace.
The federal probe is looking into Visa’s business relationships with payment services such as Square, Stripe, and PayPal. The Wall Street Journal reported that Visa allegedly offered those companies financial incentives to prevent them from using competitive payment processors.
Also, the company offered lower fees and other incentives to Cash App, a Square subsidiary, on the condition that it direct customers toward making transactions on Visa-branded services. As part of the federal probe, Visa said it was asked to hand over information about the company’s conduct in its US-based debit card business.
At the time, Visa said they believed the company’s “debit practices are in compliance with applicable laws.”
Visa said last year that federal prosecutors were seeking more documents as part of the same probe and that they were cooperating with the federal investigation.
As the federal probe into Visa's business practices continues, the Pelosi’s bank account seems to be growing. This financial growth, in the midst of such investigations, raises further suspicion and concern among the public, as well it should.
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