The House Ethics Committee largely cleared Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) and his wife of allegations that they engaged in insider trading after a yearslong investigation into a 2020 stock purchase.
However, the committee issued a rare recommendation Friday that Kelly and his wife, Victoria Kelly, divest any held stock of Cleveland-Cliffs, a steel manufacturer with a plant in Butler, Pennsylvania, located in the Republican’s district.
The panel’s recommendation came after it did not find substantial evidence that Mike Kelly violated laws, rules, or other standards of conduct, but did find evidence that the lawmaker violated the Code of Official Conduct by failing to avoid the “appearance of impropriety that may undermine the public’s faith in government.”
The report on Kelly found “there is evidence that the Member had confidential information at the time his spouse was actively trading on the company’s stock, while the Member took official actions directly affecting the specific company, there is a unique and heightened ethical concern.”
In 2020, Mike Kelly lobbied the Trump administration for an exclusion to Section 232 for grain-oriented electrical steel, which is only produced at the Butler plant, on behalf of the company, after Cleveland-Cliffs’s CEO warned the company might have to close without one.
The Republican lawmaker’s efforts were ultimately successful, with the Commerce Department deciding to initiate an investigation into the matter in April of that year. One day after Mike Kelly’s staff was informed of the Commerce Department’s plans and Cleveland-Cliffs’s decision not to close the plant, Victoria Kelly purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock.
The stock purchase worth $23,075 was listed in a periodic transaction report filed by Mike Kelly on May 15, 2020. Victoria Kelly sold all of her shares in the company on Jan. 11, 2021, for $87,551.06, making $64,476.06 profit.
The committee wrote in its report that it was unable to confirm whether Victoria Kelly received nonpublic information from Mike Kelly when purchasing the stock, saying they did not receive “full cooperation from Mrs. Kelly and was therefore unable to determine whether her stock purchase was improper.”
Mike Kelly said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that he and his family “look forward to putting this distraction behind us.”
“This investigation has unnecessarily lasted for nearly five years. In the years since this investigation began, the Cleveland Cliffs Butler Works plant faced an uncertain future due to the Biden administration’s reckless energy policies,” he said.
He continued, “Throughout this process, I have fought for the 1,400 workers at the plant, I’ve spoken with these workers, and they appreciate the hard work we have done to fight for those jobs and for Butler.”
ROB BRESNAHAN PUTS MORE GUARDRAILS ON STOCK TRADES AFTER SCRUTINY
Concerns over congressional stock trading have persisted for years, despite the 2012 passage of the STOCK Act, which requires lawmakers to catalog trades over $1,000 in public reports within 45 days.
On Friday, the Ethics Committee also reauthorized its investigations into Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) as well as issued its report regarding Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), which found the Democrat acted “inconsistent with House Rules, laws, and other standards of conduct” concerning her 2021 Met Gala appearance.