On March 8, 2021, Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint against Rep. Malinowski for apparent violation of the STOCK Act. Newly released documents show the Office of Congressional Ethics also sees, "substantial reason to believe" there was a violation.

Washington, D.C. - Just over seven months after the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint against Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) for allegedly violating the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, the independent Office of Congressional Ethics has also found, "substantial reason to believe" that he violated a law designed to promote transparency.

The law at hand, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, was signed into law in 2012 with the goals of preventing insider trading and increasing transparency in regard to stock trading activity by members of Congress.

This law is tied to legitimate concerns over conflicts of interest that arise when members of Congress take official actions related to their financial interests.

In the ten years since the law was enacted, enforcement has been lax and penalties have been tantamount to a slap on the wrist – leading to a widespread trend of violations that crosses ideological and geographic lines. The complaint against Malinowski was just the first of 13 such complaints filed so far in 2021 against sitting members of Congress (including five Democrats and eight Republicans) to be acted upon.

“Proper STOCK ACT enforcement is a critical step for holding members of Congress accountable to the public," said Delaney Marsco, senior legal counsel for ethics at Campaign Legal Center. “Elected officials craft laws that directly impact the lives of Americans, so voters have a right to know whether their representatives are acting in the public’s interest or for their own financial gain.”

If elected officials are not held accountable for failing to promptly and properly disclose stock trades, and the penalties for such violations remain inadequate, this trend of members failing to comply may continue and worsen – enforcement needs to become the norm.

It is important that the OCE has taken the rare step of referring this matter to the House Committee on Ethics, which now has the power to recommend to the full House an appropriate repercussion for the Rep. Malinowski. But this step being taken does not mean that this matter is over – the  committee must take action to ensure that the STOCK Act is being truly and strongly enforced. 

At Campaign Legal Center, we are advancing democracy through law. Learn more about our work.

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Freedom to Vote Act was blocked from receiving a public floor debate in the U.S. Senate.

Trevor Potter, president of Campaign Legal Center and a Republican former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, issued the following statement:

While today’s lack of bipartisan support for a vote on the Freedom to Vote Act was not an enormous surprise, it was still disappointing to see this reaction to the most significant voting rights bill in a generation. This is a transformative piece of legislation that, if enacted, will increase Americans’ access to the ballot box, neutralize partisan and racial gerrymandering and increase transparency in our campaign finance system to counteract the impact of dark money secret spending.

In an era where we see politicians erecting deliberate barriers to voting, with both parties enacting partisan gerrymanders and dark money pouring into elections in as-yet-unseen amounts, this compromise legislation would provide some of the most comprehensive advances our democracy has seen in decades. Campaign Legal Center has urged Congress to address these issues and others included in the Freedom to Vote Act.

Every American voter should feel that they have an equal voice in our political system, and this legislation, supported by seven in 10 Americans, would help make the promise of democracy real for us all. Today’s vote cannot be the end – in order to ensure that democracy is working for all Americans, Congress should pass the Freedom to Vote Act.

At Campaign Legal Center, we are advancing democracy through law. Learn more about our work.