Pelosi Should Take Stock of Her Conflicts of Interest

February 9, 2012

Democrat Leader Has Long Ignored the Appearance of Impropriety By Mixing Personal Business Dealings with Political Influence

Six years after Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington, Pelosi still owes the American people an explanation for the shady nexus of business and politics in her own life, such as when her family was offered access to an exclusive stock offering in an industry facing new regulations in a bill considered by the House while Pelosi was speaker.
Pelosi has blurred the line between her political power and personal finances by repeatedly presenting her husband’s business partner Bill Hambrecht as an economic expert at press conferences without explaining that she had close financial ties to him.
Pelosi’s ties to Hambrecht even included her husband’s investment in a professional football league with Hambrecht, an investment for which Pelosi failed to properly state the level of that investment in her public financial disclosure.

Six years after Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington, Pelosi still owes the American people an explanation for the shady nexus of business and politics in her own life, such as when her family was offered access to an exclusive stock offering in an industry facing new regulations in a bill considered by the House while Pelosi was speaker:

PELOSI VOWED TO “DRAIN THE SWAMP” IN 2006: “House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday noted that it was Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), not him, who promised to ‘drain the swamp’ of corruption in Washington. Pelosi famously vowed in 2006 to ‘drain the swamp’ …” (Jared Allen, “Hoyer: ‘Drain the Swamp’ Not My Line,” The Hill, 7/27/2010)

PELOSI’S STOCK TRADES “COULD HAVE BEEN SEEN AS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST”: “As Steve Kroft reported on ‘60 Minutes,’ Pelosi is one of many lawmakers whose stock market trades could have been seen as a conflict of interest.” (Stephanie Condon, “New Details on Visa’s Attempt to Influence Pelosi,” CBS News, 11/15/2011)

PELOSI BOUGHT STOCK IN COMPANY “ENGAGED IN A FULL-COURT PRESS TO LOBBY PELOSI”: “The former speaker and her husband have participated in at least eight IPOs, one of which was from Visa in 2008 – just as a troublesome piece of legislation that would have hurt credit card companies began making its way through the House. The Pelosis purchased 5,000 shares of Visa at the initial price of $44 dollars. Two days later it was trading at $64.

“Now Newsweek and The Daily Beast report that this stock purchase was made as Visa was engaged in a full-court press to lobby Pelosi to stop legislation to curb credit-card swipe fees to vendors.” (Stephanie Condon, “New Details on Visa’s Attempt to Influence Pelosi,” CBS News, 11/15/2011)

PELOSI’S HUSBAND GOT LUCRATIVE INVITE TO PARTICIPATE IN COMPANY’S IPO: (Daniel Stone, “Visa’s Courtship of Nancy Pelosi,” The Daily Beast, 11/14/2011)

Pelosi has blurred the line between her political power and personal finances by repeatedly presenting her husband’s business partner Bill Hambrecht as an economic expert at press conferences without explaining that she had close financial ties to him:

PELOSI INTRODUCED HER SON’S BOSS AND HUSBAND’S BUSINESS PARTNER AS AN ECONOMIC EXPERT REPEATEDLY WITHOUT DISCLOSING CONNECTION: “In May 2010, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi took to a podium in the Capitol to introduce a half-dozen economic experts she had convened for a meeting on how to jump-start the economy. The group had met for several hours with top Democratic leaders, and Pelosi invited them to speak publicly on their perspectives on economic growth.

“What Pelosi did not mention is that one of the men in the group was her son’s boss and a partner with her husband in more than a half-dozen investments, including one that generated more than $100,000 in income for the Speaker’s family last year.

“It was the fourth time since 2007 that Pelosi had invited San Francisco investment banker William Hambrecht to be part of an economic policy forum on the Hill and the third time she appeared at a podium with him to speak to reporters. At none of those events did the then-Speaker reveal her financial ties to Hambrecht, and House rules did not require her to do so.”(Paul Singer, “Pelosi’s Expert Was Also Business Partner,” Roll Call, 12/19/2011)

PELOSI’S HUSBAND HAS HOLDINGS IN MORE THAN HALF-A-DOZEN COMPANIES TIE TO HAMBRECHT: “According to her personal financial disclosure form for 2010, Pelosi’s husband, Paul, had holdings in more than a half-dozen companies tied to Hambrecht’s investment banking firm WR Hambrecht + Co.” (Paul Singer, “Pelosi’s Expert Was Also Business Partner,” Roll Call, 12/19/2011)

Pelosi’s ties to Hambrecht even included her husband’s investment in a professional football league with Hambrecht, an investment for which Pelosi failed to properly state the level of that investment in her public financial disclosure:

PELOSI’S HUSBAND WAS ONE OF THE MAJOR INVESTOR’S IN JOINT VENTURE WITH HAMBRECHT TO START ALTERNATIVE FOOTBALL LEAGUE:“Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has ponied up part of the $30 million needed to launch the budget-minded pro football league founded by one of the speaker’s best friends and biggest political benefactors.” (Glenn Thrush, “Pigskin Paul Pelosi,” Politico, 2/8/2012)

BUT THE BET WAS A BUST: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul lost up to $5 million on his investment in a new professional football league, according to the latest congressional financial disclosure reports released Wednesday.”(Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan and Manu Raju, “Pelosis Lose Big Bet on Pro Football,”Politico, 2/8/2012)

PELOSI’S HUSBAND INVESTED $12 MILLION, BUT DISCLOSURE REPORTS INDICATED ONLY $1 TO 5 MILLION WERE INVESTED: “Mr. Pelosi, a wealthy investor, spent $12 million last year buying the California Redwoods of the United Football League, according to report last October in the Washington Post.

“Yet the speaker’s annual disclosure report valued the team at only between $1 million and $5 million. It is unclear why there is a discrepancy in what Paul Pelosi paid for the Redwoods as described in the Post story and the team’s valued as stated in the disclosure report.” (Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan and Manu Raju, “Pelosis Lose Big Bet on Pro Football,” Politico, 2/8/2012)