When Peter Schweizer uncovered evidence of insider trading by Republican chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Spencer Bachus (R-AL), and 60 Minutes reported on it, I was the first person to call for Rep. Bachus to resign.

That was November 14, 2011.

Now, with news that the Office of Congressional Ethics has launched an insider trading investigation of Rep. Bachus, among possible others, I once again call on the Alabama Republican to do the right thing and leave Congress for good.

At the historic moment when the American people were looking to their elected leaders to protect them and their families’ portfolios, Rep. Bachus was busy using nonpublic information to enrich his own portfolio. In the summer and fall of 2008, Spencer Bachus’s position as the ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee gave him access to high-level private meetings and conversations with the then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other senior officials. The meetings Bachus was privy to were so secretive that those in attendance were not even allowed to bring cell phones into the meetings so as to prevent sensitive information that could threaten our nation’s financial system from leaking out.

And what did Congressman Bachus do with such trust and responsibility?

From July to November 2008, Bachus executed at least 40 well-timed, highly risky options trades throughout the turbulent period that netted him as much as $50,000 in capital gains. As Americans were losing their life savings, Bachus was padding his. (more…)

On Tuesday, February 7, House Republicans proposed adding a “Pelosi Provision” to the fast-moving insider trading ban known as the STOCK (Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge) Act that would prevent members of Congress from landing coveted and lucrative initial public offerings (IPOs), similar to the Visa stock IPO Rep. Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul Pelosi scored that made them a staggering 203% profit.

The Pelosi Visa IPO revelation made headlines when Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer published the evidence in his New York Times bestselling book, Throw Them All Out.  CBS News’s 60 Minutes did a subsequent report based on Schweizer’s book that sparked a media firestorm.

In early 2008, Nancy Pelosi and her real estate developer husband, Paul, were given an opportunity to buy into a Visa IPO.  Despite Rep. Pelosi’s consistent railing against credit card companies, on March 18, 2008, the Pelosis bought between $1 million and $5 million (politicians do not have to report the exact amounts, only ranges) worth of Visa stock at the IPO price of $44 per share. Two days later, the stock price rocketed to $65 per share, yielding a 50% profit. The Pelosis then bought Visa twice more. By their third purchase on June 4, 2008, Visa was worth $85 per share.

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Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer’s battle against congressional insider trading will enter a critical phase this week as the Senate is set to vote on a bill banning members of Congress from using material, nonpublic information to make private investments.

From USA Today:

Aware that most Americans would like to dump them all, members of Congress hope to regain some sense of trust by subjecting themselves to tougher penalties for insider trading and requiring they disclose stock transactions within 30 days.

A procedural vote Monday would allow the Senate later this week to pass a bill prohibiting members of Congress from using nonpublic information for their own personal benefit or “tipping” others to inside information that they could trade on.

The Senate is considering passage of the STOCK (Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge) Act, which would ban members of Congress and their staffs from engaging in insider trading and would include a 30 day reporting requirement on all investments.  The Senate version of the bill is cosponsored by Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).  Prior to Peter Schweizer’s book Throw Them All Out and the 60 Minutes report based on his book, the STOCK Act had only four cosponsors in Congress.   Now, the bill has 230 cosponsors.

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WASHINGTON (AP) – Aware that most Americans would like to dump them all, members of Congress hope to regain some sense of trust by subjecting themselves to tougher penalties for insider trading and requiring they disclose stock transactions within 30 days.

A procedural vote Monday would allow the Senate later this week to pass a bill prohibiting members of Congress from using nonpublic information for their own personal benefit or “tipping” others to inside information that they could trade on.

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President Obama’s plea to ban Congressional insider trading may poll well and have bipartisan support, but it’s already facing stiff resistance from lawmakers the morning after his State of the Union address.

On Tuesday night, the president spoke in no uncertain terms: “Send me a bill that bans insider trading by Members of Congress, and I will sign it tomorrow,” he said. “Let’s limit any elected official from owning stock in industries they impact.” The remarks were cause for celebration for Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer, who authored a 2011 book exposing Congressional insider trading, and 60 Minutes, which ran a widely-viewed segment based on his book (CBS quicklyuploaded the portion of the speech last night). But early reactions from Congress (Republicans and Democrats) shouldn’t encourage much optimism.

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The Chicago Tribune editorial page believes that legislative efforts to ban congressional insider trading, such as the STOCK (Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge) Act, are simply an exercise in “damage control” and “window dressing” to shield Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) and others mentioned in a 60 Minutes investigative report, based on Breibart News editor Peter Schweizer’s bestselling book, Throw Them All Out.

From the Chicago Tribune:

The measures under consideration strike us as window dressing. We suspect the push for new rules is about protecting the reputations of Bachus and others spotlighted in the news.It sure does seem that being a member of Congress carries benefits beyond the salary. The New York Times reported this week that the median net worth of the members rose 15 percent from 2004 to 2010, when the median net worth for all Americans dropped 8 percent.

But spare us a phony effort to “reform” the rules. The public won’t buy it. And the public has even greater reason to be disgusted with Congress, starting with a national debt of $15 trillion and climbing.

A Breitbart News exclusive report revealed that Rep. Spencer Bachus’s options trading records during the summer and fall of 2008’s debates over the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) were curiously well-timed with market trends.  Specifically, from July to November 2008, Rep. Bachus executed at least 40 options trades that resulted in as much as $50,000 in capital gains.   As Peter Schweizer revealed, Rep. Bachus’s position as the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee gave him access to high-level private meetings and phone conversations with then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, as well as other senior financial officials.

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Yesterday, Sen. Joseph Lieberman said he “doesn’t have any evidence of insider trading by members of Congress.”

Nevertheless, said Lieberman, the 60 Minutes report and the book by Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer have left his constituents with the impression that members of Congress are engaged in insider trading.

Despite seeing no evidence of congressional insider trading, Sen. Lieberman said it’s still important to have a bill clarifying that members of Congress are covered by the same insider trading laws that apply to all citizens.

Lieberman said a compromise has been struck between the versions of the STOCK (Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge) Act offered by Sens. Scott Brown and Kirsten Gillibrand and that they will bring the bill to a markup today and then report the bill to the Senate floor.

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Yesterday, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin outlined a four-part solution to end congressional insider trading and vowed not to “give up until we get the sudden and relentless reform we deserve.”

Citing the numerous deficiencies in the versions of the STOCK (Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge) Act currently under consideration, Gov. Palin wrote in a USA Today op-ed that official Washington’s response to the congressional insider trading scandal has thus far been disappointing and “predictable.”  As Palin notes:

First they denied it, then they dismissed the problem as much ado about nothing.  Some said there was no need for new laws or action because the Securities and Exchange Commission could prosecute members of Congress under existing laws against insider trading.

For these reasons, Palin argues a comprehensive four-step reform measure is desperately needed.

First, writes Palin:

We must reassert the rule of law through strong new legislation that holds Congress accountable and prevents retaliation against whistle-blowers and regulatory agencies investigating corruption.

This provision is especially important given the Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) reticence to prosecute members of Congress for fear that they will slash the agency’s budget in retaliation.  In 2006, the Justice Department suffered a similar threat from Congress when the FBI searched Rep. William Jefferson’s office after it received evidence that the former congressman was taking bribes.  Absent whistle-blower protections, says Palin, the SEC could suffer a similar fate by investigating members of Congress for insider trading.

Second, Palin argues that members of Congress must submit to immediate disclosure of all trading activities.

The bills by Sens. Scott Brown, R-Mass., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., are particularly weak. Members of Congress should disclose all trading activities immediately, not after 90 days as their bills propose. More immediate disclosure deadlines (similar to the strict deadlines corporate executives adhere to when trading certain amounts of stock) are imperative for real transparency.

A House bill introduced by Rep. Sean Duffy embodies the spirit of Palin’s disclosure rule.  Specifically, the bill requires members of Congress to either set up a blind trust or submit to a three-day disclosure rule for investments.   Palin says that while Rep. Duffy’s bill is a “step in the right direction,” she would nonetheless prefer to see members of Congress abide by “even stricter deadlines like the ones for corporate executives.”

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From BusinessInsider:

The House Financial Services Committee canceled a scheduled “mark-up” of a bill to ban congressional insider trading last night, amid concerns that the committee’s chairman, Spencer Bachus, was moving forward with the bill to take the heat off his personal political troubles.

Bachus’ trading habits during the financial crisis were featured in a ‘60 Minutes’ profile last month as an example of potential insider trading on the part of lawmakers. He’s denied those allegations, and seized upon the trading ban — called the STOCK Act — to rebuild his image.

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From The New York Times:

The ghost of George Washington Plunkitt, the 19th-century Tammany Hall boss who cynically defined “honest graft,” is in the air as bipartisan panic suddenly sweeps Congress over an ethical matter that is old news on Wall Street: insider trading.

A long-languishing bill to ban stock trading on inside information that lawmakers glean at private hearings and discussions has begun moving toward passage. The bill was lifted from hibernation by a new study from the Hoover Institution and a report on “60 Minutes” detailing the apparent freedom lawmakers have long enjoyed from the insider trading ban that applies to the rest of America.

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From The Hill:

Politically vulnerable lawmakers are lining up as co-sponsors of legislation that would ban congressional insider trading.

A “60 minutes” report earlier this month indicated that members of Congress have been trading stocks based on knowledge gained from their positions, a practice that does not violate the law.

Before the report, a House bill that would outlaw the practice only had nine co-sponsors. In the week following the “60 Minutes” segment, that number jumped to 92. Of the 83 additions, 19 are facing competitive reelection races as defined by the Cook Political Report.

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Monday night’s episode of The O’Reilly Factor, the number one show in cable news, features an unusual collaboration between FOX and CBS as Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes joins Throw Them All Out author and Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer to discuss insider trading in Congress.

In less than a week, Schweizer’s book–which documents suspicious trades by members and leaders of both parties has upended Washington, DC, prompting hearings to be scheduled in both the Senate and House and shining public scrutiny on a previously hidden avenue of potential corruption and political self-enrichment.

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This morning, Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss his new book, Throw Them All Out, which has shaken Washington to its core in the past few days. The battle over insider trading in Congress has set up a confrontation between bipartisan reformers on the one hand, and defenders of the insider-trading status quo on the other.

In the course of the interview, Schweizer responded to Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-GA), chair of the House Committee on Financial Services, who is fighting calls for his resignation. As it has become clear that the insider trading scandal is not going away, Rep. Bachus has abandoned his early reticence in favor of a more aggressive defense.

Schweizer, who was joined on the show by Steve Kroft of CBS, reiterated his case against insider trading in Congress:

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Bachus seems to be fighting a losing battle, as momentum for reform builds in Washington. Even Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), the ranking member on Bachus’s committee–who belatedly discovered his enthusiasm for reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when facing a serious public backlash and a tough re-election–is now calling upon Bachus to join efforts to pass the STOCK (Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge) Act.

Big Government has obtained a letter that Rep. Frank sent to Rep. Bachus urging him to support the STOCK Act–”which, I acknowledge, should have been addressed when I was the Chairman.”

Rep. Bachus’s letter to Schweizer’s publisher is posted below, followed by Schweizer’s response, and by Rep. Frank’s letter to Rep. Bachus.

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Democrats, Republicans, and Independents are uniting to put a stop to insider trading in Congress.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), who is rising in Republican presidential polls this week, told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly that insider trading must be punished:

Meanwhile, from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs:

LIEBERMAN, COLLINS TO HOLD HEARING ON INSIDER TRADING LAWS AND CONGRESS

60 Minutes Story Sparks Examination

WASHINGTON – Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., and Ranking Member Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced Wednesday they would hold a hearing to examine how insider trading laws apply to Congress.

The hearing, requested by Committee Member Scott Brown, R-Mass., and sparked by a 60 Minutes report, is intended to clarify the laws and rules that govern members of Congress who may profit personally from non-public information they learn in the course of their work.

“Insider trading by members of Congress – if it occurs — is a serious breach of the public trust,” said Lieberman. “No one in Congress should be enriching themselves based on information to which the general public has no access. Our hearing will set the record straight about how existing laws and ethics rules apply to Congress and whether they are sufficient to prevent unethical market trading.” (more…)

Prior to the release of Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer’s blockbuster book, Throw Them All Out, legislative efforts to pass a bill banning insider trading by members of Congress had floundered.

But all that is changing—and fast.

Congressman Tim Walz (D-MN) says that before the 60 Minutes report on Schweizer’s book, his STOCK (Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge) Act, H.R. 1148, had only garnered four cosponsors in Congress since he and Rep. Louise Slaughter  (D-NY) re-introduced the legislation on March 18, 2011.

In the two days since the 60 Minutes program aired, Walz says the number of House members supporting the bill has shot up to thirty-five, and climbing.

“I’m coming from the perspective of ‘Are you kidding me?  This isn’t a law already?’” Walz told Minnesota’s Mankato Free Press. (more…)

Wall Street Journal opinion writer Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. has cavalierly dismissed the explosive congressional insider trading scandal uncovered this week by Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer and 60 Minutes.

Jenkins calls the fact that members of Congress are abusing their political power and knowledge to make millions trading on Wall Street a “non-scandal”–and then concedes the point:

What’s right about the furor over congressional “insider trading” is the sense that congressmen let themselves behave in ways they wouldn’t permit for the rest of us, indeed would denounce as greedy.

Jenkins goes on to argue, in elitist tones, that “CBS and Mr. Schweizer are taking advantage of the audience’s naivete” and that he is “nonplussed” and “mildly contemptuous over the newest fuss” about the nation’s outrage.

Yet Jenkins’s response should come as no surprise; he is a well-known opponent of insider trading laws, and apparently has a soft spot for those accused of the crime.

In a November 24, 2010, Wall Street Journal column, Jenkins made clear his disdain for insider trading statutes:

Beating a dead horse in argument is frowned upon, but sometimes it takes a good thrashing to reveal the absurdity beneath the surface of reasonability.  So it has been with the evolution of insider trading law…Insane is what happened to insider trading law over the past generation…Insane is treating the information as the offender.  Insane is seeking serially to expand the circle of people who can be criminalized for trading on it, as if it were desirable to keep accurate information out of stock prices.

At times, Jenkins’s skepticism of insider trading law reaches near-alarmist proportions:

The day is coming when a plumber will be prosecuted for trading on what another plumber heard through the wall when fixing the pipe in an apartment neighboring the apartment of somebody who knows somebody who works at an investment bank.

During the insider trading trial of Galleon hedge fund group founder Raj Rajaratnam, Jenkins wrote an April 2011 piece that was dismissive of the prosecution’s case.  The next month, Mr. Rajaratnam was found guilty on all 14 counts of conspiracy and securities fraud. (more…)

Kyle Wingfield in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

See if you can follow me here:

1. CBS’s “60 Minutes” caused a stir with its report Sunday, based on a forthcoming book by Peter Schweizer, about members of Congress who may have traded stocks based on insider information to which they were privy because of their elected offices.

2. Many members of Congress are desperate to raise new revenues any way possible, in the name of stopping our borrowing binge.

3. Some of our politicians, and even more European leaders, are partial to the so-called Tobin Tax on financial transactions.

4. In light of the revolving door in Washington — in which politicians and their appointees leave public service and then cash in by lobbying or otherwise working for the companies they used to regulate — the law professor and proprietor of the Instapundit blog, Glenn Reynolds, hasproposed “a 50 percent surtax on any earnings by political appointees in excess of their prior government salaries for the first five years after they leave office.”

Voila! How about a 50 percent tax on financial transactions by members of Congress and their staffs while they are with the government, and for five years thereafter?

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Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) has responded to insider trading allegations revealed in Peter Schweizer’s new book, Throw Them All Out, and by 60 Minutes:

“Congressman Bachus makes sure to comply with the law and House Ethics rules, and his financial transactions are publicly disclosed. (more…)

Last night, 60 Minutes aired its report on possible insider trading by Members of Congress. A principal focus of the report was House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her participation in an IPO of Visa, one of the hottest IPOs in recent years. Reporter Steve Kroft questioned Leader Pelosi recently at a press conference about her investment and its possible impact on credit card legislation before the House during her term as Speaker.

I will have much more to say on this soon, as the legislative maneuvering around the recent credit card bill is a rich narrative and suggests there may be something to Kroft’s suspicions. For now, though, I have a more fundamental question: How did Nancy Pelosi get access to Visa’s IPO in the first place?

Participation in a stocks IPO, i.e. Initial Public Offering, is one of the more sought after trades on Wall Street. Often, an IPO investor is able to get into a stock at a relatively low price and realize an almost immediate gain once trading commences, especially if the IPO is “hot” or, rather oversubscribed, meaning more investors wanted shares than were available. Visa’s IPO was blockbuster-level “hot.” As reported by The New York Times:

Visa‘s blockbuster initial public offering is currently oversubscribed for its expected trading start on March 20, Scott Sweet of the research firm IPO Boutique told MarketWatch.

Mr. Sweet told the publication that the I.P.O. is drawing “extreme demand.”

It is very difficult for any individual investors to participate in an IPO, as most of the shares are reserved for major brokerage clients, institutional investors and pension funds. It is so difficult, in fact, the SEC has published an “FAQ” on why it is so difficult for individual investors to participate in IPOs:

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With a much-anticipated “60 Minutes” report on congressional insider trading set to air this Sunday night, Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office has launched a preemptive strike against Stanford University Hoover Fellow and Breitbart News editor Peter Schweizer, the author of the new book, Throw Them All Out, upon which the “60 Minutes” report is said to be based.

During a press conference last week, CBS reporter Steve Kroft sent the Beltway buzzing when he asked Rep. Nancy Pelosi how she and her husband landed a highly lucrative initial public offering (IPO) for Visa credit card stock.  Pelosi, who appeared visibly shaken by the questions, attempted to dismiss Kroft’s queries and said her record on credit card reform was second to none.

But now, with the “60 Minutes” story scheduled to air Sunday night, Pelosi’s office has gone on the attack against Schweizer, a New York Times bestselling author, dismissing him as just a “conservative writer.”

Capitol Hill sources close to the story say Pelosi has good reason to fear Schweizer’s investigative reporting. Throw Them All Out, which hits bookshelves nationwide on Tuesday, reportedly contains a powder keg of original investigative information that suggests Pelosi leveraged her insider status to acquire her highly profitable Visa IPO and then used her congressional authority to shield Visa from disadvantageous legislation.

Developing…