Congressional Democrats wonder if President Donald Trump and his allies acted inappropriately on his proposal on Wednesday. Just before he announces he will cut down some of the new tariffs, it means that it is “the best time to buy” the stock.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., said on Thursday that Democrats need to “get to the bottom of stock operations that could be unfolding in front of the American people.”
“There are several members of Congress who are actively demanding answers and transparency, particularly as it relates to stock purchase decisions that may have occurred over the past few days,” Jeffries told reporters when asked if he believed lawmakers may have implemented illegal or violated ethics laws.
Shortly after the stock market opened at 9:30am on Wednesday, Trump wrote that he wrote true socially.
The announcement promptly saw inventory rise sharply, with the NASDAQ index climbing nearly 12%, the S&P 500 gaining 9.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 8%.
The White House denied Trump’s engaged in market manipulation and accused Democrats of “playing partisan games.”
“It is the US president’s responsibility to ensure that markets and Americans are reassuring about economic security in the face of the fears of non-stop media,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. “Democrats have been opposed to China’s fraud for decades, and now they’re playing partisan games rather than ultimately cornering China to celebrate President Trump’s decisive action yesterday.”
There is no evidence that Trump is trying to manipulate the market or that he, or any of his advisors or allies, acted on inside-information. However, depending on the timing of the post, scrutiny is required.
Rep. Maxine Waters, a top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, is expected to send letters to two top government watchdogs demanding investigations into insider trading and market manipulation violations that could surround the tariff announcement. NBC News has obtained a letter in advance.
“Given the uncertainty when the President personally decides to suspend tariffs and the fact that he convened several meetings during that time frame (including members of Congress), there are open questions about anyone who has access to this material, non-public and market change information,” reads a letter to Deborah Jeffrey.
The US major stock index fell sharply on Thursday, a day after the market surge.
Representatives for Jeffrey and Dodaro did not immediately return requests for comment.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) argued that Trump’s true social post was “at least enough smoke” for investigation, but reporters said it should come from an independent entity “not a Democrat or a Republican.”
“I think we need to have a completely independent investigation into who is trading, who made the money, who knows what and when it knows,” Warren said.
Adam Schiff of D-Calif and Ruben Gallego of D-Ariz on Thursday sent letters to US trade representatives Jamieson Greer and White House Susie Wiles, demanding answers to a series of questions relating to whether Trump, his family, or members of his administration took part in “insider trading or illegal financial transactions.”
“Anyone who has traded in the last 48 hours and earned incredible money before this tariff announcement needs to sit in that house,” said Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who co-hosted this year to ban Congress members from owning or trading shares this year.
In a post from X, Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday noted that members of Congress will need to submit financial disclosure reports until May 15th. “A member of Congress who has bought shares in the last 48 hours should probably disclose that now,” she said.
R-Texas Sen. John Cornyn defended the president, shooting down allegations of market manipulation and insider trading, and told NBC News Thursday on Thursday, “They don’t miss the opportunity to dig into President Trump… The idea of insider trading is ridiculous.”
House speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also appeared to be enjoying the allegations while talking to reporters.
“I think today is the best day to buy stocks,” he said.
This story first appeared on nbcnews.com. More from NBC News:
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