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Another member of a congressional armed services committee has personally invested in the stock of a major U.S. defense contractor that received more than $1.7 billion in government contracts — just last month.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 in stock in Raytheon on Sept. 13, according to new congressional personal financial disclosure filings. Raytheon was awarded more than $1.7 billion in contracts in September, according to a Raw Story analysis of contract announcements from the Department of Defense.

Mullin serves on the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, which has jurisdiction over areas such as “aeronautical and space activities peculiar to or primarily associated with the development of weapons systems or military operations; common defense; Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force,” according to its website.

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Raytheon, the world’s largest producer of guided missiles, receives billions of dollars in military contracts from the government each year.

Notably, in June, the company received a contract from the U.S. Air Force for $1.15 billion, Reuters reported.

Alongside defense contractor Lockheed Martin, Raytheon produces the Stinger heat-seeking missile and Javelin anti-tank missile, which has aided Ukraine in its war with Russia, according to Defense One.

The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act requires key government officials, including members of Congress, to publicly report within 45 days most purchases, sales and exchanges of stocks, bonds, commodity futures, securities and cryptocurrencies. The STOCK Act passed in 2012 to stop insider trading, curb conflicts-of-interest and enhance transparency.

“Sen. Mullin follows the law as well as Senate Ethics rules,” said a spokeswoman for Mullin, who declined to be named.

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“Being selected to represent our state on the Armed Services Committee is a tremendous privilege,” Mullin himself said in February when he announced he’d be serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee. “With Oklahoma’s long and distinguished history of military support, I look forward to using my position to ensure that our service men and women have the resources they need to remain the greatest in the world.”

On Friday, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who led the ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), posted on X about Mullin’s recent stock transactions, Raw Story reported.

"Seems Sen. Mullin has been cashing in on public office,” posted Gaetz, who has co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to ban members of Congress from buying and selling individual stocks. "Very disappointing. I had hoped for better from him.”



Others oversee defense while investing

Mullin isn’t the only member of a congressional armed services committee to recently make personal investments in defense contractor stock.

Rep. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) reported on Oct. 13 four stock transactions totaling up to $580,000 involving defensecontractor Qualcomm, while serving on the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services alongside Mullin.

A month before, Tuberville purchased up to $250,000 in Qualcomm stock while activelyblocking hundreds of military nominations and promotions, congressional financial disclosures reviewed by Raw Story revealed. Earlier this year, he bought and sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Qualcomm shares, and he also has five-figure stock holdings in defense contractors Honeywell International and Lockheed Martin Corp., according to his personal financial disclosures.

ALSO READ: Lawmakers, law breakers: 26 members of Congress have violated a federal conflicts-of-interest law

“Senator Tuberville has long had financial advisers who actively manage his portfolio without his day-to-day involvement,” Steven Stafford, a Tuberville spokesperson, told Raw Story via email on Monday.

Last week Raw Story reported that Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA) purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of Boeing Co. corporate notes on Sept. 15 while serving on the House Armed Services Committee.

While Mullin publicly and properly disclosed his Raytheon investment within the 45-day window mandated by law, numerous members of Congress have violated the existing Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 by failing to properly disclose otherwise legal stock and financial trades.

For example, Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott, who represents South Carolina in the U.S. Senate, failed to properly disclose nearly a dozen stocks on his 2022 financial disclosure, Roll Call reported. That included up to $50,000 in Boeing Co. stock, according to a review of federal financial disclosures by Raw Story.

Raw Story also broke the news that Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA) was as much as six-and-a-half years late in reporting 136 stock and other financial transactions on an Aug. 10 disclosure — totaling between $3.05 million and $8.56 million. Up to $15,000 of that was invested in defense contractor CAE Inc.

Raw Story has identified at least 26 members of Congress who have violated the STOCK Act this year — view Raw Story's running list here.



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