Responding to a provocative “60 Minutes” story on insider trading by Congress, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut has called a hearing Thursday by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on “Insider Trading and Congressional Accountability.”
Steve Kroft: Not on witness list.
Witnesses will include: Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington; Donna M. Nagy of Indiana University Maurer School of Law; Donald C. Langevoort of the
Georgetown University Law Center; John C. Coffee Jr., of Columbia Law School; and Robert L. Walker, who is of counsel to the law firm, Wiley Rein.
Steve Kroft, the reporter on the story, is not on the witness list. Neither is Peter Schweizer, a researcher for a conservative think tank and the author of a book on “soft corruption” that was a jumping off point for the “60 Minutes” story.
Lieberman, the chairman of the committee, issued no statement indicating if he sees congressional insider trading to be a serious issue. Elements of the political right and left attacked the “60 Minutes” story, but CBS reports that at least 93 members of Congress have signed on as cosponsors the STOCK Act.
In this case, “stock” is an acronym for “stop trading on congressional knowledge.” Not everyone is impressed by the proposed bill as a safeguard.