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What Californians Are Seeing and Saying on Mike Garcia’s Stock Trade Scandal

What Californians Are Seeing and Saying on Mike Garcia’s Stock Trade Scandal

“They’re supposed to be serving us, not themselves”

Today, KCAL News, KTLA 5, and POLITICO covered the growing criticism of Rep. Mike Garcia after the bombshell report on his “curiously well-timed trades” — and how Garcia blew through ethics violation after ethics violation to keep them out of sight prior to his re-election.

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As reported by KCAL about Garcia’s trades:

Voters say the claims raised questions about how members of Congress use privileged information.

“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.”

“I think that they should be held to the same standards that we are held to.”

[…]

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. 
From KTLA 5:

A congressman from Santa Clarita has been accused of selling tens of thousands of dollars worth of stock before his committee released a report that drove that stock price down, then failing to report the transaction.

[…]

“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.”
From Politico:

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.
DCCC Spokesperson Dan Gottlieb:
“Mike Garcia seems to believe that the rules simply don’t apply to him, but Californians are taking notice. He has continuously skirted congressional ethics rules to hide inconvenient financial information from the public, and now it appears he may have participated in insider trading. Voters in California’s 27th district deserve better than Garcia’s lies and extremism.”

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