Republican Rep. Blake Moore violated federal transparency law by failing to properly disclose stock transactions worth up to $1.1 million – #stocks chatter

0
112

Republican Rep. Blake Moore violated federal transparency law by failing to properly disclose stock transactions worth up to $1.1 million
[Republican Rep. Blake Moore violated federal transparency law by failing to properly disclose stock transactions worth up to $1.1 million - newsbinding](https://newsbinding.com/banking/republican-rep-blake-moore-violated-federal-transparency-law-by-failing-to-properly-disclose-stock-transactions-worth-up-to-1-1-million/)

[**newsbinding**](https://newsbinding.com/author/bnp-news-team/) **July27,2021**

https://preview.redd.it/oemlkt2r5yd71.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=76713160f269557307608bea33783ed13d33d199

* The Utah congressman filed more than 70 of his stock disclosures weeks or months late.
* He’s a member of the House Armed Services Committee and invested in defense contractor Raytheon.
* Moore also invested in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba despite his criticism of China.

Members of Congress routinely trade stocks, buying and selling shares of companies that often have significant business before the federal government — and sometimes spend a lot of money to lobby lawmakers.

Each week, Insider digs through congressional financial-disclosure records and asks lawmakers questions about their personal finances. Here are the latest highlights from what we’ve discovered.

Utah congressman violates STOCK Act

Freshman Rep. **Blake Moore**, a Republican from Utah, failed to properly disclose dozens of stock and stock-option trades together worth at least $70,000 and as much as $1.1 million, according to an Insider analysis of [newly filed congressional records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21015534-rep-blake-moore-disclosure).

Moore was weeks or months late in disclosing more than 70 separate trades he made between mid-January and mid-May. US House lawmakers violate the [STOCK Act](https://www.congress.gov/112/plaws/publ105/PLAW-112publ105.pdf)‘s transparency provision if they don’t formally disclose a trade in a certified report to the clerk of the House of Representatives within 45 days of a stock trade.

Moore’s tardy trade disclosures include seven transactions involving stock or stock-option purchases and sales of Alibaba Group Holding Limited, a Chinese e-commerce company with [reported ties](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-alibaba-government/alibaba-is-the-force-behind-hit-chinese-communist-party-app-sources-idUSKCN1Q70Y7) to the Chinese Communist Party, including the [creation](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-app-on-xis-ideology-allows-data-access-to-100-million-users-phones-report-says/2019/10/11/2d53bbae-eb4d-11e9-bafb-da248f8d5734_story.html) of a propaganda app. Alibaba [shares are down](https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/baba-stock) from highs this year in February.

The congressman is an outspoken critic of China’s government. In a March [opinion article](https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/545477-confronting-made-in-china-is-crucial-to-americas) published in The Hill, Moore wrote that the Chinese Communist Party is a “strategic adversary” that is “challenging our political, economic, industrial, and educational systems” and “expertly subverts the international rules-based order.”

In four separate purchases from February to May, Moore also bought up to $60,000 worth of stock shares in Raytheon Technologies Corporation, a major [US government defense contractor](https://www.businessinsider.com/ratheyon-fears-biden-cancel-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia-2021-1) that produces missile systems, weapons platforms, and sensors, among other military products. Raytheon stock has [steadily increased](https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/rtx-stock) in value this year.

Moore is a [member](https://blakemoore.house.gov/about/committees-and-caucuses) of the House Committee on Armed Services, which has jurisdiction over US military affairs. He is also a member of several military-related congressional caucuses, including the F-35 Caucus, Hypersonics Caucus, Military Depot and Industrial Facilities Caucus, National Guard Caucus, and Navy and Marine Corps Caucus. 

In a statement to Insider, Moore’s office acknowledged the late filings and said Moore has already consulted the House Committee on Ethics and paid a fine — it did not say how much — for filing late. Fines for a first-time STOCK Act violator begin at $200.

Moore’s office said that the congressman earlier this year transferred funds from a 401(k) retirement account to a financial-management firm in Utah that now buys and sells “commonly traded stocks on his behalf.” The firm, which Moore’s office did not name, “trained a compliance advisor to submit reports on trades, and a system has now been set up to ensure that periodic transaction reports are filed on time,” the statement said.

“Upon entering Congress, Congressman Moore made an intentional effort to learn the new financial requirements and simplify and consolidate his financial investments,” the statement reads. “Now that Congressman Moore has fully established a financial compliance process with his firm and the Ethics Committee, he will continue to ensure all future filing deadlines are met in accordance with Ethics rules.”

Moore’s office did not answer Insider’s questions about why the lawmaker personally invests in Alibaba and Raytheon and whether he gives his financial-management company direction — and if so, to what degree — on the kinds of investments it should make.

Moore’s office also did not say whether the congressman and his staff completed required congressional ethics training where financial-disclosure rules are routinely covered. 

Officials for the House Ethics Committee declined to comment.

Members of Congress are required to report stock-trade values only in broad ranges. All of Moore’s reported trades fell within the range of $1,001 to $15,000.

Other stocks or stock options that Moore bought or sold this year include those of the Google parent company Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., American Express Company, Apple Inc., Bank of America Corp., Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Dollar General Corp., Facebook Inc., the health savings account company HealthEquity Inc., the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, Mastercard Inc., Microsoft Corp., and the computer chip and systems company Nvidia Corp.

Several other members of Congress have this year run into trouble disclosing various stock trades as federal law requires. 

They include Sen. [**Dianne Feinstein**](https://www.businessinsider.com/dianne-feinstein-senate-california-stock-purchase-disclosure-2021-1), a Democrat of California; Rep. [**Tom Malinowski**](https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-malinowski-stock-trades-congress-transparency-new-jersey-2021-3), a Democrat of New Jersey; Rep. [**Pat Fallon**](https://www.businessinsider.com/pat-fallon-congress-texas-stock-trades-boeing-2021-6), a Republican of Texas; and [**Sean Patrick Maloney**](https://www.businessinsider.com/sean-patrick-maloney-dccc-congress-stock-sale-ethics-complaint-2021-4), a Democrat of New York. 

Former Rep. **Harley Rouda**, a Democrat of California who’s attempting a comeback, also [failed to properly disclose](https://www.businessinsider.com/transparency-group-files-complaint-against-harley-rouda-for-tardy-disclosures-2021-7) stock trades.

Sen. [**Elizabeth Warren**](https://www.businessinsider.com/elizabeth-warren-ban-congress-trading-stocks-investing-tom-malinowski-nhofe-2021-5), a Massachusetts Democrat, and Rep. [**Pramila Jayapal**](https://www.businessinsider.com/pramila-jayapal-washington-elizabeth-warren-stock-ban-congress-2021-6), a Washington Democrat, told Insider they’ll soon introduce companion legislation barring members of Congress from trading individual stocks. 

But other similar efforts have failed in recent years, most notably in 2012, when the [STOCK Act](https://www.cnn.com/2012/04/04/politics/stock-act-signing/index.html), which established current congressional stock-disclosure rules, did not outright prohibit members from trading stocks.

Moore’s office did not answer a question about whether the congressmen would support or oppose such legislation.
https://www.reddit.com/r/StockMarket/comments/ot8u1o/republican_rep_blake_moore_violated_federal/

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.