'Any vague idea?' CNN's Tapper presses lawmaker on failure to ban Congressional trading

A Democratic lawmaker found himself on the defense over his party’s failure to impose a full ban on members of Congress trading stock when they had a House majority – a point that wasn’t lost on CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Tapper on Tuesday repeatedly pressed Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) on why Democrats didn't see pass a congressional trading ban, which the lawmaker said is now gaining steam in the House, including with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).

“I asked you earlier why Democrats didn't do this when they controlled the House, and you said it wasn't for lack of your trying,” Tapper told Levin. “Without naming any Democrats who were against it, can you give us at least any sort of vague idea as to why you didn't do it – Democrats didn't do it when you controlled the House?”

Levin replied that it was difficult for incumbents “to want to challenge” a system if it’s working for them, and added that he has advocated for a ban since he began campaigning for his House seat in 2017.

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“Look, I know that there's a certain degree of cynicism here, but I think this is so critically important and is so resonant with people across the political spectrum,” he said. “When I speak to my constituents, I just had a town hall packed with people, and when I brought up the need for members of Congress to not trade individual shares of stock, that was probably one of the biggest applause lines that I got and there were a lot of Republicans in attendance.”

That response prompted the CNN host to quip: “Yeah I don’t know if it’s cynicism if it’s true.”

Democrats have called for an investigation into the possibility that insider trading was in play amid President Donald Trump's 90-day pause on tariffs.

Watch the video below via CNN or at the link here.