A non-partisan ethics watchdog organization demanded another investigation into Democrat Rep. Tom Suozzi’s (D-NY) stock transactions on Friday for allegedly failing to disclose up to $515,000 in stocks over a month late, after previously failing to report transitions up to four years late.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), asking them to start an investigation into Suozzi for the second time. FACT explained that in May 2022, Suozzi disclosed ten stock trades valued up to $515,000.
Those stock transactions Suozzi filed late included companies such as NVIDIA Corporation, a computer technology company; Boeing Co., an aerospace and defense company; and General Motors, an automaker. His disclosure form indicated the trades were reported over a month late and were for “companies subject to Congressional legislation or oversight.”
As Breitbart News reported April 4:
The watchdog filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) asking to probe into Suozzi for failing to adequately disclose 31 stock trades outside the window required by law worth up to $885,000.
One of the stocks that Suozzi filed — Superior Industries International — in his most recent periodic transaction report with the clerk in the House of Representatives on March 3 included one stock trade from September 2017, meaning it was reported over four years late. Other stocks are Apple, Altria Group, Boeing, BlackRock, Caterpillar, Citigroup, Cisco Systems, General Electric, IBM, and Verizon Communications, which he made between September 2017 to June 2021.
In fact, this is not the first time the congressman has been in violation of not reporting stock transactions. Last year he received another ethics complaint with the OCE on September 22, 2021, after allegedly failing to disclose approximately 300 stock trades.
The congressman, like every other lawmaker, is required to submit a periodic transaction report with the clerk in the House of Representatives within 30 to 45 days of stock transactions over $1,000 made on behalf of themselves or their spouses under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012.
The complaint explained it is “extremely important” for the laws to be “strictly enforced to determine whether a Member has used nonpublic information for profit or whether their personal investments influenced any official action” since members of Congress vote on bills that could affect the very same companies in which they hold equity.
FACT’s Executive Director, Kendra Arnold, slammed the congressman in a statement:
There is no excuse for violating this law even one time, but this is an egregious case. This was not an inadvertent error or omission, but rather Representative Suozzi’s knowledge of the law and his repeated failure to comply with it demonstrates knowing and willful violations. In fact, his spokesperson acknowledged his most recent late filing by simply brushing it off and stating, ‘the required $200 fine will be paid.’ However, Suozzi should have already paid a fine greater than $200. A report is deemed legally insufficient and not properly filed if the fine is not paid with the late report and the fine for multiple offenses is more than $200. Moreover, a fine does not remedy the breach of the ethics rules for a Member consistently not following the law.
In 2012, Congress quickly passed the STOCK Act and signed it into law after receiving substantial bipartisan support in both chambers. The legislation was introduced and promptly signed into law thanks to Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer, who in 2011 released Throw Them All Out, exposing corruption in the highest echelons of elected life.
Schweizer’s book, which exposed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and many others, revealed corruption concerns among Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, forcing Congress into adopting the STOCK Act that implemented stricter reporting and ethics requirements.
A full copy of the FACT’s complaint against Suozzi can be found here.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at
