Federally-indicted Rep. George Santos (R-NY) called out his stock-trading colleagues on Tuesday.
“One thing I’m certain of is that members of congress trading stocks is imoral [sic]!,” Santos posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday.
“I said I wouldn’t trade and I’m keeping that promise,” Santos continued on X.
But Santos himself hasn’t abided by a federal conflicts-of-interest law requiring members of Congress to disclose their personal financial information annually, a Raw Story review of federal financial records indicates.
And the public doesn’t know for sure whether Santos has kept his “promise” to not trade stocks since he hasn’t filed his annual personal financial disclosure that was due by May 15 for all members of Congress.
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Santos requested and received a 90-day extension for his new filer report giving him until August 13 to file. But as of Tuesday, the freshman congressman was still two weeks late in filing his disclosure — as were 10 other members of Congress, Legistorm reported.
The fine for filing an annual financial disclosure 30 days past the federal deadline is $200. But members of Congress who have failed to follow disclosure requirements enshrined in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act haven’t faced serious consequences from the House Committee on Ethics and Senate Select Committee on Ethics.
“It's a black hole when it goes to the Ethics Committee, and we don't know if they will assess penalties, or they just don't do anything about it.” Kedric Payne, vice president, general counsel and senior director of ethics for the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan government watchdog group, told Raw Story earlier this month.
Raw Story has identified at least 23 members of Congress who in 2023 have failed to abide by the STOCK Act.
An eclectic mix of Democrats and Republicans, including Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, have sponsored or publicly supported any of several congressional stock-ban bills introduced this year in Congress.
Santos’ legal troubles, meanwhile, keep growing.
In May, a federal grand jury in New York indicted Santos on 13 felony counts. He stands charged with “seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives,” said the Department of Justice in May release.
Numerous members of Congress — Republicans and Democrats alike — have called for Santos to resign, and the House Committee on Ethics is actively investigating him for numerous alleged misdeeds in what could be a precursor to a congressional vote to expel him.
Santos has maintained his innocence and says he plans to run for re-election in 2024. His congressional office did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.
