Over the first several months of his freshman term in Washington, Representative Rob Bresnahan Jr., Republican of Pennsylvania, became one of the most active stock traders in Congress, despite having campaigned for his seat on a promise to end stock trading by lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Now Mr. Bresnahan’s trading is attracting more scrutiny after he made several transactions that appeared to benefit from the consequences of his own votes on the House floor.
Democrats are working to weaponize Mr. Bresnahan’s trades against him as they plot a campaign to oust him in next year’s midterm elections, and some Republicans privately concede that the issue could hurt him in his highly competitive district as they attempt to hold onto their slim House majority.
It is not just the striking number of trades that is dogging Mr. Bresnahan, a wealthy former chief executive of an electrical contracting company who was a top G.O.P. recruit. As of Thursday, he had made 626 stock trades since taking office, according to Capitol Trades, a site that monitors the stock market activity of lawmakers. That number made him the second-most-active trader this Congress.
It is also the possibility — or at least the appearance of one — that he could be benefiting financially from votes he made in Congress in favor of elements of President Trump’s domestic policy agenda that could end up harming his constituents.
On March 27, for instance, Mr. Bresnahan sold off between $100,001 and $250,000 worth of bonds issued by the Allegheny County Hospital Development Authority for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The sale came after a report identified 10 rural hospitals in Pennsylvania that faced immediate risk of closure, and a month after Mr. Bresnahan voted for the House budget resolution that paved the way for large Medicaid cuts.
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The post Congressman’s Stock Trades Draw More Scrutiny After Key Votes appeared first on New York Times.
