Politics

Nancy Pelosi’s Husband Still Owns Huge Stake In Chip Stocks, Records Show

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• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul still owns a substantial stake in shares of two chip stocks as legislation heads to President Joe Biden’s desk that delivers $52 billion in chip subsidies to manufacturers, records show.
• The house speaker’s husband notably purchased up to $5 million in Nvidia stock on June 17 but lost roughly $341,000 after selling up to $5 million worth before senators approved the CHIPS Plus Act last Wednesday.
• “The Pelosis’ situation is a case study in why we need a ban on members of Congress and their spouses and immediate families trading stocks,” said Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, the government affairs manager for the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan ethics group. “There’s way too much opportunity there for either an actual conflict of interest or actual insider trading, or at the very least the appearance of it.”

Paul has bought up to $12 million worth in shares of chip companies Nvidia and Micron since June 2021, according to financial disclosures reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. He recently sold between $1 million and $5 million worth of Nvidia stock, reporting a roughly $341,000 loss. However, he still holds shares valued at between $2 million and $7 million at time of purchase.

Micron and Nvidia both supported the recently passed CHIPS Plus Act, which would subsidize domestic chip manufacturing facilities and give tax credits for semiconductor manufacturing. Congress passed the bill in July, and President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law Wednesday. Micron develops and manufactures memory and storage chips while Nvidia designs and manufactures things like graphics processors — with both standing to possibly benefit from the CHIPS Plus Act’s $52 billion in subsidies.

“The Pelosis situation is a case study in why we need a ban on members of Congress and their spouses and immediate families trading stocks,” Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, the government affairs manager for the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan ethics group, told the DCNF. “There’s way too much opportunity there for either an actual conflict of interest or actual insider trading, or at the very least the appearance of it.”

The U.S. Department of Commerce will decide which companies receive the subsidies allocated under the bipartisan competition bill, according to a legislation fact sheet. Leaders from Micron and Nvidia both signed onto a letter on June 15 urging members to approve the legislation.

Micron and Nvidia also urged Congress to pass another version of the $52 billion subsidy bill in December 2021, according to a letter. Just three weeks later, Paul bought up to $500,000 worth in Micron stock, a filing shows.

The House speaker voted in favor of the subsidy bill in February 2021 and later voted in favor of the version that cleared the Senate last month.

NEW: Paul Pelosi has sold a major stake in Nvidia before the CHIPS vote Wednesday.

“Mr. Pelosi decided to sell the shares at a loss rather than allow the misinformation in the press regarding this trade to continue,” a spokesman for Pelosi told the DCNF.https://t.co/Og8XVqbmlw

— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) July 27, 2022

Since clearing the Senate on July 27, Micron’s stock price has surged by about 4% and shares of the stock are up over 13% in the last month. Shares of Nvidia are up by just over 6% since the subsidy bill passed the Senate and shares of the stock are up by more than 26% in the last month.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy swiped at the House speaker over her stock dealings Friday, calling for a “thorough investigation” into the role of members trading stocks. Former Federal Reserve of Dallas president Richard Fischer said Thursday that the Pelosis “appear to have taken advantage of inside information” with regard to stock trades.

“As always, he does not discuss these matters with the Speaker until trades have been made and required disclosures must be prepared and filed,” Drew Hammill, deputy chief of staff for the House speaker, told the DCNF after Paul sold his Nvidia shares.

“Mr. Pelosi decided to sell the shares at a loss rather than allow the misinformation in the press regarding this trade to continue,” said Hammill.

The House speaker’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.