Alabama congressman Spencer Bachus is facing questions after a report by CBS questions whether members of Congress are using access to nonpublic information in order to gain an advantage in the stock market.
The Alabama Republican, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, has yet to comment on the issue. CBS has noted that Mr. Bachus was engaged in trading a number of stocks during the 2008 financial crisis, all the while attending a number of key closed door briefings with congressional leaders.
“While Congressman Bachus was publicly trying to keep the economy from cratering, [Bachus] was privately betting that it would, buying option funds that would go up in value if the market went down. He would make a variety of trades and profited at a time when most Americans were losing their shirts,” CBS News reported late Sunday.
The report comes as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Speaker John Boehner have denied using inside information as part of an effort to gain an advantage.
“Congress has never done more for consumers nor has the Congress passed more critical reforms of the credit card industry than under the Speakership of Nancy Pelosi,” Pelosi spokesman, Drew Hammill, said in a statement soon after the report aired Sunday night.
Calls for Mr. Bachus’s resignation were led by conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart, who called for the Alabama Republican to resign late Sunday.
“I want to see these people taken down. I want them to suffer Anthony Weiner’s fate. I want them to step down. I am calling for Spencer Bachus to step down, not [just] from being the chairman of the House finance committee. I think he should be in Joe Paterno-ville, he should be in exile,” said Mr. Breitbart .
