Congress ethics office clears Bachus of insider trading

[alp227]

Source: Washington Post

he Office of Congressional Ethics has found no evidence of violations of insider trading rules involving the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and will recommend that the case against him be closed.

Rep. Spencer Bachus, one of the most powerful politicians on Capitol Hill, has been a frequent trader, purchasing stock options while supervising the nation’s banking and financial services industries.

The Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent investigative agency, opened its probe late last year after raising questions about trades on Bachus’s financial disclosure forms. OCE investigators notified Bachus that he was under investigation because they had found probable cause to believe insider-trading violations might have taken place.

...

The case against Bachus was the first of its kind involving a member of Congress. It came at a time of intense public and media scrutiny of congressional ethics, with the House and Senate passing legislation earlier this year to tighten rules against insider trading by lawmakers. President Obama has since signed the measure into law.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/ethics-office-clears-bachus-of-insider-trading/2012/04/30/gIQAVwvZsT_story.html?wprss=rss_politics

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Only in paragraph 9 does the article mention his party.

[Archae]

1. "Congressional Ethics" = Oxymoron

Bachus is so corrupt he stinks on ice.

[lib2DaBone]

2. You Can't Be Serious?

Max Baucus.. the biggest insider-trader... Big Insurance ... Fat-Cat.. liar...thief.. .scammer....

You mean THAT Max Baucus?

[anti-alec]

4. Spencer Bachaus

not Baucus.> He's equally as slimy.

Fucker wouldn't even write a proper public option choice for the ACA...

[midnight]

3. These three paragraphs tell me something is wrong here:

To prove insider trading, prosecutors must demonstrate that the subjects of their investigations had access to material, non-public information, and that they intended to act upon that information to enrich themselves or others. Members of Congress can trade on information they learn in the legislative roles as long as it does not come from private, closed-door briefings and involve confidential facts that can affect the fortunes of companies.

On Sept. 18, 2008, at the height of the economic meltdown, Bachus participated in a closed-door briefing with then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. At the time, he was the highest-ranking Republican member of the Financial Services Committee. According to a book Paulson would later write, the topic of the meeting was the high likelihood of decline across the entire economy if drastic steps were not taken.

The next day, Sept. 19, Bachus traded “short” options, betting on a broad decline in the nation’s financial markets, and collected a profit of $5,715.

[Lochloosa]

5. Well damn...it was only 5700 bucks...they let him off because he's stupid

give me the same info and i'll walk with a lot more than that