One of Congress’ most prolific stock traders violated a federal insider trading and transparency law by failing to properly disclose six-figures’ worth of purchases, according to new U.S. House financial records.
Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-California), who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, was days or weeks late revealing more than 50 individual trades, including shares of defense contractors Palantir Technologies, Microsoft, Macom Technology Solutions and SPX Technologies.
Other tardy disclosures by Cisneros, who won a Mega Millions jackpot worth $266 million in 2010, include trades in cryptocurrency company Coinbase Global, computer chip giant Nvidia, media conglomerate Paramount Skydance Corporation and ride-hailing platform Uber.
Taken together, Cisneros’ improperly disclosed stock trades are worth between $95,000 and $900,000. (Lawmakers are only required to list the values of their trades in broad ranges.) The records come as the U.S. Senate is considering the House-approved Stop Insider Trading Act, which would in part ban federal lawmakers from buying individual stocks.
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Representatives for Cisneros acknowledged NOTUS’ request for comment but did not otherwise respond to phone and email messages.
It’s unclear whether Cisneros has or will pay a late-filing fine administered by the House Ethics Committee, which begins at $200 and may be waived at the committee’s discretion. Representatives for the committee, which is led by Rep. Michael Guest (R-Mississippi) — himself as STOCK Act violator this summer — did not respond to a request for comment.
In February, Cisneros told NOTUS that he doesn’t manage his own investments, and therefore, does not believe that his personal stock holdings conflict with his public service in Congress.
NOTUS’ Capitol Gains project estimated Cisneros’ median net worth to be $65.91 million entering 2025.
“I have a financial adviser, and you look at the size of my portfolio and you’ll understand why I have a financial adviser who makes all the decisions, and I trust him to do it,” Cisneros said. “I trust my adviser. As I always say, I got very lucky in life and I want to be able to protect it.”
Cisneros has made hundreds of other stock trades during the 119th Congress, House records indicate.
Among them: purchasing up to tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of stock in Palantir, which also has scored Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts, and $15,000 worth of SpaceX stock days after the Elon Musk-led company made its initial public offering of stock.
In June, Cisneros easily emerged from a competitive primary to advance to November’s general election, where he’s heavily favored to win reelection to California’s 31st Congressional District, which includes parts of eastern Los Angeles County.
In addition to Guest, Cisneros joins an ever-growing list of federal lawmakers who’ve violated the STOCK Act’s disclosure provisions.
Since last summer, violators in the House include Reps. Michael Rulli (R-Ohio), Shri Thanedar (D-Michigan), Tracey Mann (R-Kansas), Julie Johnson (D-Texas), Linda Sánchez (D-California), Julia Letlow (R-Louisiana), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Lisa McClain (R-Michigan), Pat Ryan (D-New York), Sheri Biggs (R-South Carolina), Derek Tran (D-California), Donald Norcross (D-New Jersey), Tim Walberg (R-Michigan), Rich McCormick (R-Georgia), Ritchie Torres (D-New York), Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Dan Meuser (R-Pennsylvania), Jonathan Jackson (D-Illinois), George Whitesides (D-California), Val Hoyle (D-Oregon), Austin Scott (R-Georgia), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida), Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), Kelly Morrison (D-Minnesota), Christian Menefee (D-Texas), Daniel Webster (R-Florida), Ed Case (D-Hawaii), Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), Laurel Lee (R-Florida) and Scott Franklin (R-Florida). Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Oklahoma) was also late, although his office denies it.
Senators who’ve violated the STOCK Act during the past year include Sens. Alan Armstrong (R-Oklahoma), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) and John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania).
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