Rough timing: Lawmaker’s wife bought SVB stock one day before bank collapse
Gabe Kaminsky
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A Democratic congressman’s wife purchased a hefty amount in Silicon Valley Bank stock just one day before its historic collapse, which has seen the stock tumble by over 95%, a financial disclosure shows.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) has frequently disclosed that his wife, Margaret D. Kirkpatrick, has bought and sold stocks and bonds through her retirement portfolio — with the occasional timely trade that could reap profits. But one of her latest stock buys hasn’t exactly panned out, according to a Wednesday financial disclosure report reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
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Kirkpatrick snagged between $1,001 and $15,000 in shares of SVB on March 9, one day after the California company began to lose value over its announcement that it needed to raise $2.2 billion and sold $21 billion in assets. On March 10, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation took over the bank, with its shutdown sending shock waves and banking crisis fears throughout the economy.
It was the second-largest failure by any bank in U.S. history. Its stock was delisted, and shareholders were wiped out. When the stock reopened in the market on March 28, it traded at $0.40 per share and is still trading below $1 as of Friday morning. Kirkpatrick purchased at roughly $106 per share, according to Capitol Trades, a group analyzing stock trades among members of Congress.
“We’ve long known that when it comes to spending that Earl Blumenauer was way off base — at least it is good to see that his irresponsible and ill-advised spending practices are not only confined to the federal checkbook but extend to his family’s finances,” quipped Tom Jones, president of the American Accountability Foundation, a conservative watchdog group.
Blumenauer’s wife also sold up to $15,000 in shares of First Republic Bank on March 20, according to the Wednesday filing. The San Francisco-based bank secured $30 billion in deposits on March 16 from 11 major U.S. banks, including Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, as the financial industry worried about market volatility due to the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank.
The FDIC is now retaining a financial adviser to oversee the liquidation of roughly $114 billion in securities it took on when it took over Signature and Silicon Valley banks, the regulator announced on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve will release its review of oversight and regulation of SVB on May 1, the body said in March.
Kirkpatrick’s trades come on the heels of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a right-leaning watchdog, demanding an investigation in November 2022 into her healthcare stock buy before the Biden administration announced it would pay the company $290 million for drug supplies. That complaint was a direct result of a Washington Examiner report detailing how Blumenauer sits on the Ways and Means Committee’s health subcommittee, which oversees healthcare-related programs.
Blumenauer was included in a comprehensive September 2022 New York Times report detailing possible conflicts of interest for lawmakers when it comes to stock trading. He disclosed 31 stock buys, some of which involved the defense contractor Raytheon, on the same day Russia invaded Ukraine.
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“Due to a miscommunication, his financial advisers purchased some stock on his behalf,” a Blumenauer spokeswoman told Insider at the time. “When this was reported to him, he immediately ordered it sold (at a loss) and gave unequivocal direction that he should not hold any individual stock.”
Blumenauer’s office and Kirkpatrick did not reply to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.