(A)Political Newsletter - Volume 25

(A)Political Newsletter - U.S. Political News & Election Updates

Good morning everyone,

Happy new year! We are getting kicked off with election news, ballot, border, and Boebert problems. Lets dive in:

In today’s edition:

  • Stock Watching/Poll Updates

  • Eric Adams Sues Bus Companies Over Migrant Transports

  • California Lt. Gov Swatted, Among Other Intimidations Against Politicians

  • DeSantis, Haley In Iowa for CNN Town Halls

  • Lauren Boebert Switches Congressional Districts

CONGRESSIONAL STOCK WATCHER

  • Senator Josh Hawley just posted:

    • “BAN stock trading by members of Congress”

    • Last year, Hawley and Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand introduced a bill that would ban congressional trading.

  • Vivek Ramaswamy has sold approximately $33M of stock in Roivant Sciences, the healthcare company he founded in 2014.

    • This is just the second sale of Roivant stock we have on record for Vivek.

  • Representative Patrick McHenry has said that Congress needs a raise.

    • He said: "most of us don't have wealth".

    • He has two homes. One is worth as much as $5M.

    • We have found that over half of the members of Congress are millionaires.

    • Members of Congress are currently paid a salary of $174K/year.

  • Senator Thomas Carper disclosed a handful of stock trades yesterday.

    • He is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

    • He oversees many of the companies he traded.

  • Dan Crenshaw attacked reporting on his stock trading last night.

    • Crenshaw has made just 33 trades while in office.

    • However, he has made a few of the most well-timed trades we've seen.

  • Another congressman has been buying stock in Valero Energy.

    • This time, it was Senator Thomas Carper.

    • He's chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

    • We’ve seen many politicians make suspicious purchases of Valero recently:

    • Representative Michael Burgess bought on December 8th. He sits on the House Energy Committee.

    • Senator Markwayne Mullin bought on September 13th. He sits on the Senate Committee on Environment.

    • Representative Michael Guest bought on August 7th. He sits on a House Subcommittee on Energy.

    • Representative John Curtis bought in June and then sold after the stock rose. He sits on the House Committee on Energy.

    • It's strange to see so much buying in a relatively short period of time.

    • It's especially strange that many of them seem to be on committees with some level of oversight over the company.

  • Representative John Curtis has announced he is running for Senate.

    • Last year, we caught Curtis selling stock in First Republic Bank before it went bankrupt.

    • He also traded energy stocks while sitting on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

  • Senator Bob Menendez is facing new corruption charges.

    • The new charges accuse him of making positive comments about Qatar in exchange for luxury wristwatches.

    • He was caught allegedly selling solid gold bars last summer.

  • We just got a glimpse into how much money politicians receive from corporations after they retire.

    • We received new data on former Representative Mike Rogers.

    • It revealed that he holds 11 different board seats.

    • He made over $1.8M from these positions last year.

  • Senator Markwayne Mullin has sold Veralto stock.

    • Veralto is an environmental solutions company.

    • Mullin sits on the Senate Committee on Environment.

    • Earlier this month, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse sold the same stock.

    • Whitehouse is also a member of the Senate Committee on Environment.

    • Veralto was created as the result of a spin-off from Danaher Corporation earlier this year.

  • Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest has actively traded energy stocks while in Congress.

    • He sits on an energy subcommittee.

Be on the Lookout:

More of the same this week to start out our stock trading. There is a growing push to ban congressional stock trades but just as much pushback to give Congress a raise and a continued role in trading stocks. In other news the Pelosi stock tracker bot created a huge profit getting as much as 60% returns on some stocks.

Eric Adams Sues Bus Companies Over Migrant Transports

(Mayoral Photography Office/Ed Reed via AP)

January 5, 2024 - NYC Mayor Eric Adams is suing seventeen charter bus companies for $708 million over the costs of managing the migrants sent to the city. The lawsuit is another escalation over the migrant transport feud between New York City and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.  Adams already ordered new regulations on where and how bus companies can drop off migrants, causing many to drop them off in New Jersey, instead. 

The feud shows the growing crisis for urban mayors, who are dealing with a large influx of migrants that they have no infrastructure to house. A few months ago, Adams ordered that homeless shelters to expel single adults after two months. Chicago has been dealing with the same issue, where a large influx of migrants caused the mayor to announce new measures. The issue is politically fraught for President Biden, whose disapproval over the migrant crisis is rising. 

Some mayors have even asked their Senators and Representatives to work with Republicans on the issue since the White House has refused to make much of a comment on the issue. Republicans have tried to tie in stricter border policies with a Ukrainian defense bill, but some Democrats fear that it is too much.

California Lt. Gov Swatted, Among Other Intimidations Against Politicians

(Creator: Steve Yeater | Credit: AP)

January 5, 2024 - California Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis was targeted in a "swatting" attack after pushing California's Secretary of State to remove former President Trump from the ballot. This event follows other threats against elected officials, where swatting attacks and bomb threats against multiple state capitols have also been reported. Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Michigan had to take precautions in relation to bomb threats made against their capitol buildings. 

These threats forebode a tense year for elected officials. With the already heightened tension of an election year, the heightened partisanship between the two candidates have proven to be a sensitive subject. It must be noted that both Democrats and Republicans have been targeted in "swatting" attacks and threats. Republicans Rick Scott, Marjorie Taylor Greene have been targeted, compared to Eleni Kounalakis and Democratic Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. Although many of these attacks are used as a fear tactic, public officials must use time and resources to track down the threat and make sure it is not a real danger to citizens or officials alike.

DeSantis, Haley In Iowa for CNN Town Halls

(Creator: Joe Raedle | Credit: Getty Images)

January 5, 2024 - Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had a CNN-ran town hall Thursday night. These town halls are in preparation for the home stretch of the Iowa caucuses, which are just days away. Desantis in his town hall proposed a flat income tax, pledging to abolish the Internal Revenue Services. He also made a veiled attack on Nikki Haley, poking fun of a gaffe confusing two people. Desantis largely stayed away from culture war issues, likely because they have not been resonating as much as he thought they would earlier in the race. His main attacks on Trump were the issue of electability, which he said that the federal indictments against him could hurt his presidential bid. 

Haley has been trying to cement her rise in her town hall. She has tried to win over some Trump voters with a pledge to pardon him if she were President, and he was convicted. She showed her continued support for Israel, even while being asked if the response from the Israeli government is disproportionate to Hamas' attack. Many Republicans support Israel and its operations. She has also responded to her biggest campaign blunder, where she did not include slavery as a cause of the Civil War last week. She said she "should have said slavery right off the bat.” In the town hall, Haley shows her strategy: trying to gain Trump voters now and still appear moderate if she gains the Republican nomination. 

Even thought the focus of the townhall is on Desantis and Haley, Trump still holds the largest lead and the margin seems to grow increasingly after every debate. Trump continues to use social media to publicize his campaign messages or respond to criticisms from other candidates. So far the strategy has proven effective as it has prevented other candidates from putting any serious dent in his lead.

Lauren Boebert Switches Congressional Districts

(Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call via AP file)

January 5, 2024 - Republican House Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado has announced she will switch congressional districts. Adam Frisch, her Democratic challenger in the 2022 midterm elections, who lost by only 546 votes, has vastly outraised her going into 2024. The district that Boebert would have run in has disagreed with her personal politics. She recently was videotaped acting lewdly with her date at a play, drawing national attention.

Boebert will run in the 4th Colorado Congressional district, which has a Republican advantage of twenty-seven percentage points. However, running for the new district's nomination will not be easy. Even though the incumbent Rep. announced his retirement, the field is already crowded. State Rep. Richard Holtorf of Akron, and conservative media host Deborah Sterling, are in the race, among others. Since she is moving to another district, she is being accused of being a carpetbagger. 

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