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KCAL News Los Angeles: “They’re supposed to be serving us, not themselves”
Spectrum News Los Angeles: “Garcia accused of selling off thousands of shares of Boeing right before the release of a devastating report against the company. Why some are now saying that sale was tied to privileged information, and an ethics investigation should be opened.”
NewsNation: “[Garcia] sold…just before a committee he was on released a damning report about Boeing, and then he blew the deadline to report.”
It sure seems like Congressman Mike Garcia, facing accusations of trading off his knowledge in Congress, thought no one would notice his ethical failings — but Californians are catching on. Reports from CBS Los Angeles, Spectrum News, NewsNation, KTLA 5, POLITICO, La Opinion, Raw Story, and many more have continued to shine a light on Rep. Mike Garcia following The Daily Beast’s bombshell report on his “curiously well-timed trades” — and how the Santa Clarita congressman blew through ethics violation after ethics violation to keep them out of sight prior to his re-election.
See what Californians are reading and hearing about their cash-it-in congressman:
From KCAL News Los Angeles:
WATCH THE FULL CLIP:
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Anchor: GOP Congressman Mike Garcia under fire tonight, accused of selling off 1000s of shares of Boeing right before the release of that devastating report in 2020. That story is being reported in The Daily Beast, as KCAL political reporter Tom Wait reports tonight.
Tom Wait: A story published in The Daily Beast claims Garcia sold 50,000 shares of Boeing wings before his committee made public a devastating report connected to the deadly crashes involving Boeing’s 737 Max, the 737 Max was grounded for two years after two horrific and deadly crashes. The Daily Beast story also claims Garcia failed to report the sale as he was required to do until after he won the hard fought reelection campaign.
Former Federal Prosecutor Scott Tenley: There is going to be a paper trail. The question is going to be what was his intent? Did he intend to hide it? Did he intend to trade on the Boeing inside information? That’s the question that really needs to be looked into.
Tom Wait: Voters say the claims raised questions about how members of Congress use privileged information.
CA-27 Voter 1: “They’re supposed to be serving us, not themselves. And obviously, they have information that they get before we do. Right? So they can use that information. Unlike us common walking citizens.”
CA-27 Voter 2: “I think that they should be held to the same standards that we are held to.”
Tom Wait: Voters tonight in this highly contested district say they want to see continued oversight and increased oversight over members of Congress for these stock sales.
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Anchor: Santa Clarita Congressman Mike Garcia coming under fire this morning. Our Washington correspondent Cassie Semyon is tracking the very latest. Cassie?
Cassie Semyon: Santa Clarita Congressman Mike Garcia sold up to $50,000 in shares of Boeing weeks before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which Garcia served on at the time released its report investigating the deadly crashes involving Boeing 737 Max airliner.
Garcia later disclosed the trade of the stocks – but more than two months after the 45-day reporting window set by Congress and weeks after the November 2020 election, which Garcia won over Christie Smith by 333 votes.
End Citizens United filed a request for investigation into Garcia with the Office of Congressional Ethics to determine if Garcia used inside information when making the trade.
“Congressman Garcia not only betrayed his constituents’ trust by using nonpublic information to protect his financial assets, but he illegally covered it up by purposely failing to report the trade until after his reelection. This is a blatant abuse of power and a slap in the face to families in his district who trusted him to fight for their needs not to safeguard his stock portfolio. We urge the Office of Congressional Ethics to immediately launched an investigation into Congressman Garcia’s actions and hold him accountable for his egregious abuse of power,” said Tiffany Muller, President of End Citizens United, in a statement to Spectrum News
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Leland Vittert: Congress beat the markets — and now you can too!
The Daily Beast reports [Mike Garcia] sold up to $50,000 of Boeing [shares] just before a committee he was on released a damning report about Boeing, and then he blew the deadline to report.
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Anchor: You’ve got GOP elephant Rep. Mike Garcia selling off his Boeing stock ahead of a report that he knew about — that he acted on.
This is unfortunate because these are the types of people who are willing to act on this that we vote for. We need to choose a hell of a lot more wisely.
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That transaction was not disclosed until Nov. 23, 2020, “more than two months after the 45-day reporting window had closed,” according to the Daily Beast.
That timing is important, the Republican congressman should have reported the stock sale before the 2020 election. Instead, he waited until after votes were cast in an election he won by only 333 votes.
“There’s a chance he’s in Congress today because he hid this,” said Jordan Libowitz, communications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “And it raises the question of whether he’s looking out for his constituents or is he just trying to enrich himself.”
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The campaign for George Whitesides, a Democrat who is seeking Garcia’s seat, issued a statement saying, “Congressman Mike Garcia has become part of the problem in Washington. He went to Congress, almost immediately broke the rules to benefit himself, and has chosen to vote for his party’s interests over the interests of people in Santa Clarita, the San Fernando Valley, and the Antelope Valley ever since. George Whitesides is a business leader running to serve the needs of area families – not himself.”
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Como miembro del Comité de Transporte e Infraestructura de la Cámara de Representantes, García estaba al tanto de una larga investigación del Congreso sobre el papel de Boeing en los accidentes del 737 Max.
En septiembre de 2020, un mes después del intercambio de García, el comité presentó sus conclusiones: una crítica implacable a la empresa, justo antes de la recertificación regulatoria.
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DAY TRADER: California Republican Rep. Mike Garcia swatted away allegations of insider trading Wednesday following a Daily Beast story that he sold up to $50,000 of Boeing stock just weeks before a committee he sits on produced a report on the company’s role in the 737 Max crashes.
He filed this financial disclosure two months after the 45-day reporting window, and 20 days after he won his general election by a razor-thin margin of 333 votes. The representative said he hadn’t been aware there was a 45-day reporting requirement.
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In a September 2020 report, the House Transportation Committee found that Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “played instrumental and causative roles” in two deadly plane crashes that, combined, killed 346 people altogether.
Before that, according to Daily Beast reporters Roger Sollenberger and Riley Rogerson, Rep. Mike Garcia (R-California) “sold up to $50,000 in” Boeing shares. That August 2020 sale, the journalists report in an article published on December 13, came “weeks before” the “damning results of” a congressional probe “into deadly crashes involving the company’s 737 Max airliner” became public.
“But while other incumbent campaigns were dogged by blockbuster stock scandals that year,” Sollenberger and Rogerson report, “the Garcia campaign never had to answer for this trade. That’s because Garcia blew the mandated deadline to report the transaction, only filing the paperwork on November 23 — more than two months after the 45-day reporting window had closed.”
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