April 10 (UPI) — Democrats on Thursday requested an urgent inquiry into whether President Donald Trump, his family or members of his administration engaged in insider trading informed by advance knowledge regarding Trump’s tariff policy.
In a letter to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics and the White House chief of staff, Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said that, on social media on the morning Trump decided to pause tariffs before it was public knowledge, the president said, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!”
“The sequence of events raises grave legal and ethics concerns,” the senators wrote.
Later that day, the U.S. stock market skyrocketed on Trump’s announcement that his tariffs, which erased trillions of dollars in market value, were being paused.
Schiff and Gallego are demanding answers to several specific questions about whether any insider trading may have illegally benefitted Trump, his family or associates.
They want answers by April 18. Among the questions is whether anyone in the Trump administration, including adviser Elon Musk, knew in advance the tariffs would be paused.
They also want to know if Trump’s family knew anything prior to the pause announcement.
Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Dick Durbin of Illinois also questioned the possible market manipulation.
Warren said, “Look, it shouldn’t be an investigation by Democrats or Republicans; it should be an independent investigation. And if the president and his Cabinet and his family have nothing to hide, they should want an investigation like that.”
Durbin said, “Over and over again we see evidence of self-dealing and efforts to improve your bottom-line net worth with the policies of this administration. I think it deserves closer scrutiny.”
White House spokesperson Kush Desai told Axios, “It is the responsibility of the President of the United States to reassure the markets and Americans about their economic security in the face of nonstop media fear mongering.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said on X, “Any member of Congress who purchased stocks in the last 48 hours should probably disclose that now … It’s time to ban insider trading in Congress.”
