A Democratic House member from Washington appears to have run afoul of federal regulations requiring the timely disclosure of stock sales.

On June 14, Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, one of the highest-ranking members of her party in the House, submitted a periodic transaction report indicating that her spouse engaged in the sale of Microsoft stock valued between $1.25 million and $5.5 million. These transactions occurred on August 30, 2022, and March 1, respectively.

As per the provisions outlined in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012, members of Congress are obligated by law to disclose securities transactions exceeding $1,000 within 45 days following the execution of such transactions by themselves or their spouses. However, according to DelBene’s filing, she delayed reporting the sales of Microsoft stock for a period of 288 days and 105 days after the respective dates of those transactions.

As per the provisions outlined in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012, members of Congress are obligated by law to disclose securities transactions exceeding $1,000 within 45 days following the execution of such transactions by themselves or their spouses. However, according to DelBene’s filing, she delayed reporting the sales of Microsoft stock for a period of 288 days and 105 days after the respective dates of those transactions.

“Members of Congress from both parties are missing these deadlines and not disclosing transactions when they’re supposed to according to the law, which in and of itself, from a first principle standpoint, is a really bad thing because you have lawmakers who are not following the law that they made,” Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, the government affairs manager at the Project on Government Oversight, told Fox.

“Oftentimes, if you aggregate members of Congress’ trades and transactions, they tend to over-perform the rest of us and over-perform the market,” Hedtler-Gaudette noted further. “There is definitely the appearance of impropriety and the appearance of potential corruption there that is corrosive to public trust in Congress and individual members of Congress. So, it’s a big problem.”

Furthermore, he emphasized that recent instances of congressional members breaching the STOCK Act serve to bolster the case for a comprehensive ban on political stock trading. An investigative report by Insider uncovered 78 members of Congress who have recently violated the legislation.

The report revealed that these lawmakers provided a range of justifications for their actions and were typically subjected to a $200 fine as a disciplinary measure.

Fox added:

A spokesperson for DelBene explained that the two Microsoft stock sales reported earlier this month were part of a forward contract her husband Kurt DelBene created after he was confirmed for a senior role at the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

“In March 2022, the DelBenes disclosed a forward contract, which put in place a self-executing stock sale schedule at a set price related to compensation from Mr. DelBene’s previous employment,” the spokesperson told Fox in a statement. “This forward contract was drafted by ethics experts and approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

“The entirety of the contract was disclosed over a year ago and it has not been altered since,” the statement went on. “The DelBenes cannot adjust or initiate any actions related to the forward contract. These transactions fall under the original forward contract but are being reported separately in the interest of transparency after consulting with the House Ethics Committee and the Department of Veterans Affairs.”