Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and her multimillionaire husband sold up to $3 million in shares of Google in recent weeks—just before the Biden Justice Department launched an antitrust probe of the tech giant.
Paul Pelosi sold 30,000 shares of Google from Dec. 20 to Dec. 28, according to a financial disclosure filing the former House speaker submitted to the House Ethics Committee. The Pelosis made an undisclosed profit from the investments, according to the filing.
The trade proved timely. On Monday, the Justice Department and attorneys general from eight states—including California—sued Google over its monopoly on the digital ad market. The lawsuit could force Google to break up its online ad business, which generated nearly $55 billion in revenue for the company in the most recent quarter. Google's stock has dropped around 6 percent since the Justice Department announced the lawsuit.
The trades are the latest in a string of questionable transactions for Paul and Nancy.
They saved roughly $600,000 in June by selling shares of microchip maker Nvidia weeks before the U.S. government placed restrictions on the company's business in China and Russia. The Pelosis have seen their fortune grow $140 million since 2008, thanks largely to Paul Pelosi's stock trades, according to a Washington Free Beacon analysis.
Pelosi's stock market charades have sparked calls for tougher regulations on members of Congress cashing in on their positions of power.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) on Tuesday introduced the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act—the PELOSI Act—to prohibit members of Congress and their spouses from owning or trading individual stocks.
"For too long, politicians in Washington have taken advantage of the economic system they write the rules for, turning profits for themselves at the expense of the American people," Hawley said. "As members of Congress, both Senators and Representatives are tasked with providing oversight of the same companies they invest in, yet they continually buy and sell stocks, outperforming the market time and again."
Pelosi’s office did not return a request for comment.