Further proof – if you needed any – that Washington politicians and officials should not be able to buy individual stocks or they must put their money in a blind trust.<\/p>\n
Some sold in January 2020 when the government began mobilizing against the threat. Others bought shares as a market-rescue plan was taking shape.<\/a><\/p>\n A deputy to top health official Anthony Fauci reported 10 sales of mutual funds and stocks totaling between $157,000 and $480,000 that month. Collectively, officials at another health agency, Health and Human Services, reported 60% more sales of stocks and funds in January than the average over the previous 12 months, driven by a handful of particularly active traders.<\/p>\n By March, agencies across the government were working on wide-reaching measures to prop the economy and markets. Then-Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao purchased more than $600,000 in two stock funds while her agency was involved in the pandemic response and her husband, Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, was leading negotiations over a giant, market-boosting stimulus bill.<\/p>\n And as the government was devising a loan package aimed specifically at helping companies including Boeing<\/a> Co. and General Electric<\/a> Co., a Treasury Department official involved in administering the aid acquired shares of both companies.<\/p>\n Federal officials owned millions of dollars of stock in industries most affected by the pandemic and the government\u2019s response. About 240 officials at health agencies and at the Pentagon, a key player in the vaccine rollout, reported owning a total of between $9 million and $28 million in stocks of drug, manufacturing and biotechnology companies that won federal contracts related to Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021, the Journal\u2019s analysis found.<\/p>\n *****************************<\/p>\n