ICYMI: Brian Higgins violated the STOCK Act
Business Insider reports that Brian Higgins has violated the STOCK Act, a law he cosponsored, by failing to disclose financial transactions he made in 2020.
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Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins of New York appears to have violated a conflict-of-interest law he cosponsored
Business Insider
Camila DeChalus
September 30, 2021
https://www.businessinsider.com/democratic-brian-higgins-new-york-violate-stock-act-law-2021-9
Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins waited more than 11 months to disclose that he made three stock transactions worth as much as $115,000 — an apparent violation of a federal transparency and conflict-of-interest law, according to Insider’s review of a financial-disclosure document.
Higgins himself cosponsored that law, known as the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, or the STOCK Act.
In September 2020, he sold up to a combined $65,000 worth of stock in Micron Inc., a computer-data-storage company, and Sphere 3D Corp., a software-development company.
Higgins also purchased up to $50,000 in stock for Nvidia Corp., a computer-system company.
But Higgins, who represents a largely urban district in western New York and sits on the powerful House Budget and House Ways and Means committees, did not disclose these financial transactions until August, about 11 months past a federal deadline.
The STOCK Act mandates that federal lawmakers disclose stock trades within 30 to 45 days after the transactions happen, depending on the type of trade. Those that violate the law may be subjected to a $200 fine, at minimum.
Higgins did not respond to Insider’s multiple requests for comment.
Following publication of this article, Higgins acknowledged to his hometown newspaper that he “made a mistake” and will rectify it.
“Well, it’s on me,” Higgins told Buffalo News Washington Bureau chief Jerry Zremski. “I made a mistake by neglecting to file a timely periodic transition report for several trades I made last fall. I take full responsibility for it, I will pay whatever fine is associated with that mistake and I will make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
In 2018, Higgins had strong words for Rep. Chris Collins, a fellow western New York congress member and a Republican, when the FBI arrested Collins and charged him in one of Congress’ most notable stock-related scandals of recent years: a scheme to commit insider trading related to securities in an Australian biotechnology company.
“The allegations included in the indictment against Rep. Chris Collins can be summed up in one word: shameful,” Higgins wrote at the time. “These charges, including insider trading, conspiracy to commit fraud, and lying to federal officials, laid out by professionals within the Justice Department and FBI are backed up by comprehensive evidence of these very serious offenses. I am confident that, in due course, justice will be served.”
Collins pleaded guilty and briefly served time in federal prison before then-President Donald Trump pardoned him in December.
Some legal experts have been calling for more enforcement measures against lawmakers who violate the STOCK act, whether the transgression is big or small.
“If not, we’re not penalizing these violations in such a way that acts as an actual deterrent. … Then, we need to figure out a way to restrict members of Congress from trading stock in a way that they have been,” Delaney Marsco, a senior legal counsel at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, said.
No matter if these stock transactions are small or big, the public has the right to know about them, Marsco told Insider.
“The reason we have this disclosure is because we have a right to know what members of Congress are trading and when,” she said. “And when these disclosures are just delayed for so long, it just defeats the purpose of the law.”
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