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…)

Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), whose financial transactions while ranking member of the House financial services committee were exposed by Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer, is now the target of an insider trading inquiry by the Office of Congressional Ethics, according to the Washington Post:

The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee over possible violations of insider-trading laws, according to individuals familiar with the case.

Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), who holds one of the most influential positions in the House, has been a frequent trader on Capitol Hill, buying stock options while overseeing the nation’s banking and financial services industries.

The Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent investigative agency, opened its probe late last year after focusing on numerous suspicious trades on Bachus’s annual financial disclosure forms, the individuals said. OCE investigators have notified Bachus that he is under investigation and that they have found probable cause to believe insider-trading violations have occurred.

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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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Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), who was the subject of allegations of congressional insider trading, has indicated that he will not seek to extend his term as chair of the House Financial Services Committee after 2012.

Bachus was one of several Capitol Hill leaders from both parties involved in insider trading, according to Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer, who raised the issue in his recent book, Throw Them All Out. Subsequently, President Barack Obama called on Congress this week to pass a law banning congressional insider trading–though the book also documented crony capitalism in the Obama administration’s green energy programs.

Bachus could have sought a waiver from the Republicans Party’s self-imposed six-year term limit on committee chairs, which includes time spent leading the minority as ranking members. However, he chose not to do so, though he has indicated that he wishes to play a role in selecting his successor.

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Alabama State Senator Scott Beason (R-AL) announced his candidacy for Alabama’s 6^th Congressional district late last week against 10-term incumbent, Spencer Bachus (R-AL).  This comes on the heels of multiple accounts of corruption exposed initially in Peter Schweizer’s best selling book, “Throw Them All Out.”

Since Schweizer’s book came out, CBS’ 60 Minutes did a feature on Congressman Bachus’ insider trading, and that of others.  Since then, his own constituents held a rally demanding Bachus’ resignation.  In response, he committed to hold hearings on the STOCK Act, an effort to reform insider trading.  Later, the Congressman reneged.

His constituents reacted angrily, committing to recruit a strong candidate against the Congressman, and many names were floated.  Just after Christmas, Judicial Watch named Bachus one of the top 10 most corrupt politicians in Washington.

“This (Spencer Bachus) is clearly not proper representation of the good people of Alabama” said Deanna Frankowski, of Rainy Day Patriots, a local Tea Party group.  “I told Scott Beason that we need his leadership against Bachus, and that I would help him if he ran.”

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Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2011 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.” The members of the House of Representatives on the list, in alphabetical order, include:

• Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
• Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL)
• Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
• Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA)
• Rep. David Rivera (R-FL)
• Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
• Rep. Don Young (R-AK)

Dishonorable Mentions for 2011 include:

• Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)
• Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)
• Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
• Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)
• Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY)

Spencer Bachus (R-AL): He has become the face of a congressional “insider trading” scandal that has rocked the Washington establishment as 2011 draws to a close. Rep. Spencer Bachus, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, was one of the principal targets of a 60 Minutes investigative report on the scandal, which aired on CBS in September 2011.

The report was based, at least in part, on the book Throw Them All Out by author Peter Schweizer, which outed a slew of members of Congress who allegedly profited in the financial markets by trading on insider information. Bachus was not the only congressman cited by 60 Minutes, others included Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, but the Alabama Republican stood out for his remarkable “good fortune” in shorting the stock market. (more…)

From The Hill:

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) says Republicans will revive and expand a bill banning insider trading by members of Congress in the first months of 2012, after he slowed the bill’s progress earlier this month.

The legislation, known as the STOCK Act, had gained momentum after a “60 Minutes” report raised questions about whether lawmakers were personally profiting from the insider information they gleaned from their jobs in the Capitol.

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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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Today’s congressional insider trading hearings led by Rep. Spencer Bachus showcased a carefully selected list of expert witnesses designed to protect the status quo and thwart real reform.

Among Rep. Bachus’s list of experts were Indiana University Professor Donna Nagy, Jack Maskell of the Congressional Research Service and Robert Walker, who formerly served as a lawyer on the House Ethics Committee. All three argued that current laws are fine as written. However, when Enforcement Division Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission Robert Khuzami was asked whether the SEC had ever brought action against any member of Congress or congressional staffers for insider trading, Mr. Khuzami confessed that if they had he wasn’t aware of it.

Rep. Bachus’s shell game is hardly a surprise. In the wake of the 60 Minutes investigation and my book’s revelations about Rep. Bachus’s 40 stock options trades during the 2008 financial crisis, he is desperately trying to reposition himself as a reformer, going so far as to now announce a plan to have members of Congress establish blind trusts. That is great as window dressing, but why not give the American people a clear picture of what is actually going on in Washington?

For starters, instead of stacking the deck, Rep. Bachus should have had a panel of experts who hold diverse views. Why not call a witness like UCLA Law Professor Steve Bainbridge who, in addition to being an expert on insider trading laws, has sounded the alarm bells for years on the insufficiency of our current laws?

Moreover, why not have an honest discussion about the fact that the SEC has never pursued congressional insider trading cases? We know the answer. Congress approves the SEC budget every year. And remember what happened when the FBI investigated Rep. William Jefferson for taking bribes? Congress threatened to slash the FBI budget!

The American public has lost faith in our political leaders precisely because of the sort of ridiculous show that Rep. Bachus put on today.

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Citizens of Alabama’s 6th congressional district, represented by Republican Spencer Bachus, made their voices heard today when they brought megaphones, signs and opinions to his district office.

Many constituents are upset by information released in the new book Throw Them All Out by Peter Schweizer, and the ensuing segment on 60 Minutes exposing insider trading and short selling by Rep. Bachus, among others.

“The idea is to be honest, and police our own, because we are the Party that does it right,” said one demonstrator, “we don’t want election time to come around in 2012 and figure out then that people won’t vote for conservatives because of what one bad player did. We want to keep our name clean. We are the party of ethics, and whether Congress wants to admit it is illegal or not, it is wrong. Conservatives know the difference.”

Upon protestors’ entry into the building, they were told that they would not be allowed to assemble on the grounds of the Congressman’s office, and that they should go across the street. They stayed, and were peaceful. They agreed not to wave their signs, or shout, or disrupt the peace in any way, with one protestor commenting to security, “We aren’t the Occupiers, we are the Tea Party, for crying out loud.”

Alabama realizes that the scope of what happens here extends far beyond our state, and that this is a fully national story now. We want to set an example, as a constituency willing to police our own, and demonstrators discussed many reasons why this particular Congressman needs to go, in addition to those reasons mentioned in the media today. (more…)

Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), under pressure from conservatives, liberals, and his own constituents, has announced that the House Financial Services Committee, which he chairs, will hold hearings on Dec. 6 to consider legislation to prevent insider trading by members of Congress.

From Breitbart.tv:

Both the House and the Senate are now planning hearings on congressional insider trading, following exposés by Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer in his new book, Throw Them All Out. (more…)

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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From BreitbartTV:

Because of the revelations in Peter Schweizer’s new book Throw Them All Out, a Tea Party group along with Big Government contributor Dr. Gina Loudon have called for the resignation of Senator Bachus. The Tea Party rally will be held on Thursday afternoon from Noon-1 p.m.

There is a forgiving nature in the Southerner that surprises the occasional Yankee visitor. Doors are opened, ladies are escorted off of curbs, and conversation is edifying. There is a sharp but tailored critique of wrongdoing, and forgiveness comes as easy as the gentle southern gulf breeze—but only once. Part of the charm of the south is the genteel way they approach human interaction–until, that is, you cross them. Expect decisive correction. I have come to know that this is how the south “weeds” out its own bad, so that the genteel southern tradition continues.

The southern tradition of civility is deeply rooted. That is why the short selling of the American economy by Alabama Congressman Bachus, as described on 60 Minutes last Sunday, and his pursuant refusal to explain, apologize, or make reparations to his constituents strikes them as so abhorrent. Alabamians are asking for the honorable removal of the Congressman who did the dishonorable.

The following is a letter sent Monday to his office, after one sent Sunday evening went unanswered:

Mr. Staley:

This is my second attempt at communication to you and your Congressman’s office.

I am looking to give you and/or Congressman Bachus an opportunity to speak in his defense to his constituents before they organize an all out protest of his non-response on what appears to be a horrible injustice against the citizens of Alabama, and the American economy.  He is welcome on my show today any time between 4 and 7 pm.

I will be diplomatic to my guests, Mr. Staley, but non-response from an elected public servant and his staff is wholly unacceptable and will result in a relentless pursuit of the same.

I am not only an engaged Republican, Tea Partier, and show host, I am his constituent.

Please respond to my Producer, Jason (cc’d), ASAP.

Thank you,

Dr. Gina Loudon

The congressman’s office sent a written statement in response to the interview request as follows (edited for brevity): (more…)

From BusinessInsider:

The fact that many members of Congress appear to have traded on non-public information in their personal brokerage accounts during the financial crisis is outrageous.

But since this bombshell news broke on Sunday night, the excuse has been that, however ridiculous it may sound, insider trading is legal for Congress.

This same assertion has been repeated for years, every time someone observes that Congress members do much better in their personal stock trading than average investors do. Unlike average Joes, the pundits explain, Congress has exempted itself from insider-trading laws, so Congress-people are allowed to trade on private information that they gather in the course of their work while other Americans can’t.

But at least one law professor argues that this is just not true.

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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…)

From Henry Blodget, Editor of BusinessInsider:

Yes, this behavior may be widespread on Capitol Hill.

No, there is no universe in which a reasonable person would consider this behavior ethical or in any other way okay.

According to a new book called Throw Them All Out by Peter Schweizer, as relayed by Dave Weigel at Slate, Rep. Bachus made more than 40 trades in his personal account in the summer and fall of 2008, in the early months of the financial crisis.

The fact that Bachus was a member of Congress and traded on private information he received as a result of his job is bad enough. The fact that he was the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee at the time is simply outrageous.

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From Newsweek:

One of the more dramatic episodes in the book recounts the trading activity of Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus, of Alabama, who, as the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, was privy to sensitive high-level meetings during the 2008 financial crisis and proceeded to make a series of profitable stock-option trades.

Bachus was known in the House as a guy who liked to play the market, and in fact he was pretty good at it; one year, he reported a capital gain in excess of $150,000 from his trading activities. More striking is that Bachus boldly carried forth his trading in the teeth of the impending financial collapse, the nightmarish dimensions of which he had learned about first-hand in confidential briefings from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. On Sept. 19, 2008, after attending two such briefings, Bachus bought options in an index fund (ProShares UltraShort QQQ) that effectively amounted to a bet that the market would fall. That is indeed what happened, and, on Sept. 23, Bachus sold his “short” options, purchased for $7,846, for more than $13,000—nearly doubling his investment in four days.

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U.S. Representative Spencer Bachus (R-AL) had access to highly sensitive financial information during the 2008 bailout debates that may have helped him earn tens of thousands of dollars by trading stock options, even as most Americans’ portfolios took a beating.

On Sunday, Rep. Bachus’s trading behavior came under fire in a 60 Minutes report based on Throw Them All Out, the book by investigative journalist and Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer that has triggered a political earthquake in Washington. Schweizer, who is also a Breitbart editor, devotes a significant portion of the book to exposing possible congressional insider trading.

Bachus’s trades during debate over the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) raise serious questions about whether he invested based on information he acquired as a result of his political power.

“Here’s the rub: all too often his trades coincided with his congressional work,” says Schweizer. “Bachus was neck-deep in crucial financial decision-making at the highest levels.”

BigGovernment.com has obtained and reviewed Rep. Bachus’s Fidelity stock options trading records. The dates of the congressman’s trading patterns paint a troubling picture.

In the summer and fall of 2008, Rep. Bachus–who is the current chairman of the House Financial Services Committee–was then the ranking Republican on the committee. That gave him access to high-level private meetings and phone conversations with then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, among other senior financial officials.

From July to November 2008, by executing well-timed, highly risky options trades throughout the turbulent period, Congressman Bachus made at least 40 options trades that netted him as much as $50,000 in capital gains. (more…)