Members of the House and Senate are not prohibited from investing in companies, including...
, which was created by the German financial data firm 2iQ Research. Reporters matched the trades against relevant committee assignments and the dates of hearings and congressional investigations.
All but one of the nine transactions reported by Michael C. Burgess, a Republican representing North Texas, were in companies tied to his work on House energy and commerce subcommittees, according to the newspaper. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican who represents Houston, sold shares worth $1,000 to $15,000 to Kinder Morgan, an energy infrastructure firm, while he was a member of the House Energy Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change, according to the Times.
“These are incredibly low dollar amounts being traded, especially when you put them in context with other members who trade huge sums of money in the stock market," a spokesperson told the Times."All of these trades were made using publicly available, well-reported information. The claim that there is any conflict of interest behind these transactions is absurd.”