NO BAN BRESNAHAN: He said he’d ban stock trading in Congress. He’s made more than 530 trades since taking office. [Business Insider]

Rob Bresnahan is once again facing scrutiny for his broken congressional stock trading promises.

In May, Bresnahan said he would set up a blind trust after the New York Times revealed that he has become the most prolific stock trader among his freshman class – despite pledging that he would end stock trading in Congress.

Now, new reporting today from Business Insider details how Bresnahan has broken yet another promise by failing to follow through on his pledge to set up a blind trust… all while he continues to trade freely, racking up a total of “more than 530 trades since taking office.”

DCCC Spokesperson Eli Cousin:
“Congressman Bresnahan campaigned on a pledge to ban congressional stock trading but has made more than 530 trades since taking office. Now he has lied to Pennsylvania voters yet again after he said he would set up a blind trust, which he has failed to do as he makes dozens of more trades. It’s clear that Bresnahan is just another corrupt, lying politician, looking to enrich himself rather than serve Pennsylvania families.”

Read the new reporting here:

• Rep. Rob Bresnahan said he would ban stock trading when he got to Congress. Since the Pennsylvania Republican took office in January, he’s traded securities at least 530 times.
• Forty of those trades, worth at least $166,000, were made after May 6, when he announced that he would move his assets into a blind trust.
• Business Insider reviewed 11 periodic transaction reports that Bresnahan has filed since January. His investments run the gamut, from tech companies like Meta and Alphabet to energy companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.
• Like fellow Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Bresnahan has said that he does not make those trades himself and that his portfolio is managed by an outside third party.
• Bresnahan has apparently continued to allow that advisor to make trades on his behalf, even after his trades began to draw significant media scrutiny two months ago.
• In March 2021, Bresnahan penned an op-ed in a local paper stating that if elected, he would co-sponsor legislation to ban stock trading in Congress.
• “Some of the most prolific traders in the country serve in Congress,” Bresnahan wrote. “Whether or not they have done something wrong, the idea that we can buy and sell stocks while voting on legislation that will have a direct impact on these companies is wrong and needs to come to an end immediately.”
• The Pennsylvania Republican has emerged as one of the House’s most prolific traders. After the New York Times first reported on Bresnahan’s trades, his office said he would introduce his own bill instead.
• At the same time, Bresnahan said he would establish a blind trust.
• “I have never traded my own stocks, but I want to guarantee accountability to my constituents,” the congressman said in a May 6 press release. “That is why I am working with House Ethics to begin the process of enacting a blind trust. I want the people I represent to trust that I am in Congress to serve them, and them alone.”
• While the details of each blind trust is different, they generally allow individuals to retain the value of their assets, but they relinquish control over investment decisions to a third party. They also do not receive information about the contents of the trust until it is terminated.
• Bresnahan isn’t the only lawmaker who continues to trade stocks despite backing a stock trading ban. He’s also not the only lawmaker who has continued to trade despite announcing plans for a blind trust.
• Additionally, Republican Rep. Tom Kean of New Jersey announced just before he took office in January 2023 that he would be placing his assets into a blind trust. The congressman still has not disclosed doing so, and his office did not respond to a request for comment.

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