New financial filings reveal that far right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) bought up to $15,000 in stock in defense manufacturers and energy companies two days before Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
On February 22, Greene bought stocks in defense industry giant Lockheed Martin and military supplier Caterpillar. She also bought between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of stock in Chevron and NextEra Energy, a utility and energy company.
All of these companies’ stocks have grown in the weeks since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, with Lockheed Martin up by about 20 percent since then.
The purchases came the day before Greene complained on Twitter about war profiteering. “War and rumors of war is [sic] incredibly profitable and convenient,” she wrote. “And just like that, the media has a lie to use as the reason for our shattered economy and out of control inflation.” The next day, after Russian troops launched attacks across Ukraine, Greene said that the invasion was “no surprise” – contrary to what experts on the situation were saying.
According to Greene’s own logic, however, if the invasion was no surprise, then she would also be one of the war profiteers that she complained about in her tweet. Armed conflict is incredibly beneficial for the defense industry; stocks for major European and U.S. defense contractors are soaring due to the conflict.
Oil companies have also been looking to exploit the invasion in order to expand oil and gas exploration in the U.S. Immediately surrounding the initial attacks, oil companies and conservative lawmakers, including Greene, began calling for expanding oil production.
Like they appear to have done with inflation, oil companies may be jacking up prices for oil at the pump, in order to make a tidy profit as the conflict continues. Stocks in Exxon, Chevron and other oil giants have gone up in recent weeks.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) criticized Greene’s fortuitous stock purchases on Monday, saying “Add this to the list of why members of Congress should never be allowed to trade stocks.” According to Insider, Greene is among the most active stock traders in Congress.
It’s illegal for members of Congress to trade stock based on privileged information that isn’t available to the public, as that would constitute insider trading. It’s unclear if Greene could have been operating on insider information in this instance, although this seems unlikely given the circumstances.
However, defense contractors including Lockheed Martin were boasting in January that escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia could be good for business. Lockheed Martin spends tens of millions of dollars lobbying Congress each year.
Members of both parties of Congress have been pushing to ban stock trading for members of Congress, either by forcing them to put their individual stocks in a blind trust or by requiring them to divest from stocks altogether. The Committee on House Administration has scheduled a hearing on the issue, taking a critical step toward passing such legislation, which anti-corruption organizations say is crucial.
Though there are some Republicans who have voiced their support for such legislation, Greene does not appear to be one of them.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.