00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, Secretary Bessent, let's start with something you
00:04and I agree strongly on. Last year you came out in support of a trading ban
00:10for members of Congress, and I have introduced legislation to do exactly
00:15that. You explained the need for a ban on our trading stock by saying, quote, you
00:22look at some of these eye-popping returns, every hedge fund would be jealous of
00:28them, and that, quote, if any private citizen traded that way, the SEC would be
00:34knocking on their door. Those are strong words from someone who used to run a hedge
00:39fund. Last month, President Trump's latest financial disclosures came out, and they
00:45show that he made more than 3,400 stock trades worth more than a quarter of a
00:52billion dollars in just the first three months of 2026. That's roughly half of
01:00what all 535 members of Congress made last year combined. And the value of
01:07virtually every one of those stocks that the president traded in is directly
01:12affected by President Trump's official actions. So, Secretary Bessent, you and I
01:18agree that it is a conflict of interest for members of Congress to trade stocks. Do
01:25you also agree that it's conflict of interest for President Trump to trade
01:29stocks? Well, a couple of things, Senator. One, President Trump is not sitting in the
01:35Oval Office engaging in a high-frequency trading strategy. Clearly he had an
01:40outside manager who was doing that. And so, and I think it's incumbent upon both
01:47houses of Congress to get their house in order before you move to the
01:52Administrative O'Brien. Before? You think it's okay for the President to do this? Because let's be
01:56clear, you are a Wall Street guy, so you know better. The investments that the
02:01Trump, that President Trump has made are not blind. President Trump literally signed the
02:09113 page document publicly listing all of his individual stock trades at the same
02:16time that he is making decisions affecting those stocks. So you're gonna sit
02:20here with straight face and say it's not a conflict of interest for the
02:23President of the United States to do that? I am going to say this body needs to
02:27get its house in order first. How about we get the White House in order at the same time?
02:31I would encourage you to do that. I don't trade in individual stocks. I don't own any
02:36individual stocks. My house is in order. Thank you. Senator, you're very rich.
02:40Mr. Secretary. Others on this committee can't say that, Senator.
02:43Let's look at some individual trades. On January 6th, Donald Trump purchased up to a
02:49million dollars worth of Nvidia stock. One week later, his administration changed
02:54U.S. policy and loosened the rules on export controls so that Nvidia could sell its
03:02chips to China. Now the price of Nvidia stock is through the roof. So Secretary
03:07Bessett, you said last year if any private citizen traded the way members of
03:12Congress do, quote, the SEC would be knocking on their door. So my question is,
03:18should the SEC be knocking on President Trump's door to start an
03:23investigation over this trade? Again, if this body wants to ban individual stock
03:29trading, which I would advocate for yourself, start there. And if you want
03:33legislative action to continue, that's your prerogative. So it's our prerogative.
03:39So you would support our saying that President Trump should be
03:42investigated over this? I would support getting... Our trade should be investigated and President Trump should be investigated.
03:49I would support you getting your house in order, Senator. And how about the White House getting its house in
03:53order?
03:53Would you support that investigation? Please lead by example. Would the... I would like to see the
03:59President of the United States lead by example. You say there should be an
04:04investigation when that kind of activity takes place? How about we start with the
04:07White House? Let's do one more. You create statute. The President is not.
04:11President Trump bought tens of thousands of dollars worth of stock in Robin Hood and the
04:16Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, known as BNY. On April 6th, your Treasury
04:21Department announced it had chosen the financial agent to implement the new Trump
04:27accounts program, BNY, and its partner Robin Hood. Both stocks, of course, have risen since then.
04:34So, Secretary Bessett, let me ask you a different question. If these stock purchases
04:39that Trump made were made using inside information, would that be illegal?
04:45Again, I'm not a lawyer. I'm not going to speak to that. And I think...
04:50Would it be worth investigating? You don't have to be a lawyer. You're the one who said what should be
04:56investigated.
04:56Why don't we investigate many people in this committee, Senator? Many people.
05:00And you don't think the White House should have to follow the same set of rules that are already the
05:06law.
05:06I think you should get your house in order here. My house is in order. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
05:11And you should have your fellow committee members, many on your, mostly on your side of the aisle, do the
05:15same.
05:16We need stronger anti-corruption rules and conflict of interest rules in Washington for everyone.
05:22And that includes the President, and it includes Congress.
05:27And instead of draining the swamp, what Donald Trump is doing is he is enriching himself by taking advantage of
05:34his position.
05:35That is not public service. He's the one who should lead by example.
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