Representative Judy Chu (California’s 27th District) is among a long list of almost 100 current members of Congress who bought or sold stock, bonds or other financial assets that conflicted with congressional work by trading in companies that were influenced by the committees they sit on. The information was released by The New York Times and highlights the activity of Chu. In 2019, Ms. Chu’s husband purchased shares worth $45,000 to $150,000 in ApolloMed, a health
care company that is based in Ms. Chu’s district and that he serves on the company board of directors. Ms. Chu sits on a health care subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee and part of their jurisdiction is Medicare, which ApolloMed benefits directly from as many of their patients are covered by Medicare. While Ms. Chu states that there is no conflict, congressional
watchdog groups across the political spectrum have called them out for their inherent conflicts of interests and questionable ethics to include Campaign Legal Center, Center for American Progress, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Indivisible, National Taxpayers Union, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Project on Government Oversight, Public Citizen, Reform for Illinois, RepresentUs, Stand Up America, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and Transparency International, US.
In a statement Ms. Chu’s opponent for the new 28th District, Col(ret) Wes Hallman said, “These trades are often based on information not available to average Americans and should be banned. This is just one more thing eroding trust in our public leaders. I pledge to vote for a stock trade ban and will not conduct such trades myself.”
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