Dori: Rep. Kim Schrier misses half-million-dollar stock reporting deadline

Next year’s Congressional race in Washington state’s 8th District is expected to be highly contested, which is why it’s mind-boggling that not one local media outlet seems to have picked up on this story.

Earlier this week, we learned that Rep. Kim Schrier, whose 8th District includes King, Pierce, Kittitas, and Chelan counties, and much of Douglas County, reported Friday that she and her husband bought a stake in Apple worth at least $500,000 and maybe up to $1 million in July.

Oops. Under current law, members of Congress must publicly disclose such stock buys within 45 days of purchase. Never mind that she missed the deadline by two months. And try to forget about the fact that she sits on the U.S. House Committee for Energy & Commerce, which deals directly with telecommunications and technology issues – like those affecting Apple.

The response from her office through spokesperson Elizabeth Carlson: “Rep. Schrier’s husband made the stock transaction and there was an oversight in not filing the paperwork. As soon as Rep. Schrier found out, they corrected the error. She is sincerely sorry. In order to avoid any problems in the future, they are setting up a blind trust to manage all investments.”

So Rep. Schrier is saying she was unaware of this more than half-million-dollar purchase? What else doesn’t her husband tell her? Seriously, I tell my wife when I buy a case of Diet Coke on sale.

She delayed reporting an investment in a company in an industry where she – in Congress – oversees the laws. How shady is that?

Maybe it’s because some members of Congress are so wealthy that reporting an almost million-dollar purchase slips their mind. In 2020, more than half of Congressional members were millionaires, according to OpenSecrets.org.

Since no local media has touched this case, we invited Dave Levinthal from Business Insider – one of several national media organizations to cover Schrier’s case — to the Dori Monson Show.

“The best that we can do is take the (congressional) member at his or her word,” Levinthal says about Schrier’s claim of “oversight.”

There are proposals before Congress that would restrict lawmakers from buying individual stocks for personal and joint investments, limiting them to mutual and/or bond funds instead, he says.

“I would not hold your breath about this going forward quickly,” Levinthal added.

In a divided Congress, he says, there are “lots of excuses all over the place on both sides.”

In a district where incumbent Rep. Schrier pumped several million dollars into her 2020 campaign – and outspent her opponent six times over – the outcome was nip-and-tuck. She barely won: 51 to 49 percent.

This stock trade should be a huge campaign issue next year. It’s a big deal when members of Congress don’t follow the laws.

Click here to hear Dori’s interview with Dave Levinthal from Business Insider.

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