Busted: MTG's new stock portfolio shows a lot of potential conflicts of interest

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is back playing the stock market after an extended absence — and she just purchased stock in two companies whose business dealings potentially conflict with her congressional committee assignments.

In a public filing released today and reviewed by Raw Story, Greene reported buying up to $15,000 Qualcomm, a federal defensecontractor. Greene serves on the Homeland Security Committee and the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement.

She also reported an investment of up to $15,000 in technology giant Microsoft. Greene serves on the Government Oversight and Accountability Committee and the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation.

Greene also reported buying up to $15,000 each in Home Depot, Goldman Sachs, Hershey, Berkshire Hathaway and Tractor Supply Company stock. She also purchased up to $500,000 worth of U.S. Treasury bills — short-term investments that mature between four and 52 weeks.

Greene’s office did not immediately answer Raw Story’s request for comment.

Family stocks that Greene disclosed made an 18.6 percent return on stocks in 2023, as estimated by Unusual Whales. That was above average and in the middle of members of Congress who traded stocks. Asked on Fox News about the trades, she said an account for her son must have made the trades, a claim widely mocked on social media.

Notably, Greene’s new investments do not include Trump Media & Technology Group, whose stock has tanked since it came on the market.

In October 2021, Greene became the first member of Congress to personally invest in Digital World Acquisition Corp, which in March merged with Trump Media to form the publicly traded Trump Media & Technology Group, which trades on the NASDAQ market under the ticker symbol “DJT” for “Donald John Trump.”

In 2021, Greene reported that she and her then-husband Perry Greene purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of Digital World Acquisition Corp.

Greene has not reported that she sold the stock. She was divorced in December 2022. It appears the Digital World Acquisition Corp. shares — along with the shares of many other stocks — went to her ex-husband.

Greene’s husband frequently bought stocks in companies that openly supported social efforts that the congresswoman opposed, such as the Black Lives Matter movement and LTBTQ+ rights, Business Insider reported.

Greene had personally stopped trading stocks since 2023, according to financial disclosures filed with Congress.

Unusual Whales, which tracks the stock trades of members of Congress, warned in a 2023 report that stock trading by members of Congress poses risks: “It is important to remember that many of these stocks these members are trading are also legislated by their very committees. In no surprise, these conflicts do not stop members from trading those very stocks, like members of the Armed Services trading war stocks, and others.”

Unusual Whales noted in the report how Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) reacted when asked about his highly successful trades in 2021.

“His exact words were that without trading, ‘You have no way to better yourself’ as a congressperson,’” the report said.

Raw Story has reported that 42 members of Congress — Greene is not among them — have violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 during the current congressional session because they’ve improperly disclosed personal financial trades.

Bipartisan efforts to ban stock trading among members of Congress have so far proved unsuccessful.