WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., disclosed 22 of her husband’s stock trades up to nearly eight months late under federal law.
The late disclosures are a violation of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, a 2012 law that requires lawmakers, their spouses and dependent children to disclose trades no later than 45 days after the transaction to help prevent insider trading by members of Congress.
The stocks are owned by the senator’s husband, Wesley Britt, a former University of Alabama and NFL football player. The 22 trades were made at three different times last year and were disclosed this week after the reporting deadlines.
A spokesperson for Sen. Britt said all the trades were handled by Wesley Britt’s broker and “made without his knowledge or consent.”
One of those trades involved JPMorgan Chase & Co stock. Britt is a member of the Banking Committee.
“Senator Britt had no knowledge of that stock holding in her husband’s broker-managed retirement account until this week,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Alabama Daily News, referring to the JPMorgan Chase stock.
“Upon learning of it, she requested the stock be unloaded from the account to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. At this time, Mr. Britt no longer owns that stock, and all proceeds from the transaction are being donated to charity.”
Out of the nearly two dozen stock trades, 11 took place on April 14, so Britt’s disclosure of those was nearly eight months late under federal rules. The trades include Google, Apple and Amazon. Five occurred on April 30.
The six other trades, which include Visa, UPS and Nvidia, occurred on Nov. 7, making those disclosures a little over a month late.
“The disclosure was filed as soon as Mr. Britt became aware of the trades this month,” Britt’s office said. “Additional guardrails have been implemented to prevent this from happening moving forward.”
Individuals who fail to report trades worth more than $1,000 within the required time frame are subject to a $200 penalty, according to the Senate Committee on Ethics.
All of Mr. Britt’s stock trades are worth between $1,001 – $15,000, according to the disclosures, which are only required to be reported in ranges.
Britt’s violation comes amid renewed calls from members of Congress to ban stock trading within the institution. Earlier this month, House Republicans advanced out of committee a watered-down bill to place limits on stock trades for lawmakers, their spouses and dependent children, but the legislation would not outright ban members from owning them.
Democrats have been pushing for stricter restrictions, including a bill that would ban members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children, and the president and vice president from owning and trading stocks.
Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, is on the committee that oversees rules around stock trading in Congress and is a proponent of the Democratic-led legislation. She also had one of the highest returns on a portfolio in Congress last year.
Alabama is also home to one of Congress’ most prolific traders, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who has a total trade volume of up to $38.14 million, according to Quiver Quantitative, a website that tracks members of Congress’ holdings. Tuberville also violated the STOCK Act in 2021 for failing to disclose trades within the 45-day window, CNBC reported.