{"id":185053,"date":"2021-05-30T16:06:32","date_gmt":"2021-05-30T16:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=6e3b65b9e8b13a60c8570cf513b8fbf5"},"modified":"2021-05-30T16:06:32","modified_gmt":"2021-05-30T16:06:32","slug":"outspoken-republican-who-opposes-legalization-owns-quite-a-lot-of-stock-in-pot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/05\/30\/outspoken-republican-who-opposes-legalization-owns-quite-a-lot-of-stock-in-pot\/","title":{"rendered":"Outspoken Republican Who Opposes Legalization Owns Quite a Lot of Stock in Pot"},"content":{"rendered":"\"View<\/a>

Rep. Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican with an influential post on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, has spent her Congressional career advocating against the legalization of marijuana \u2014 while also loading up on hundreds of thousands of dollars in marijuana-industry stocks ahead of crucial votes on key federal decriminalization measures, Salon<\/em> has learned.<\/p>\n

Foxx, 77, has made at least six investments in Altria, one of the world’s largest tobacco companies and <\/span>a leader in the burgeoning U.S. cannabis industry<\/a>, since September of last year, <\/span>according to financial disclosure reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The purchases, which have not previously been reported, likely make her the largest holder of marijuana-related stocks in Congress, according to <\/span>a report from Unusual Whales<\/a>, a market research firm. It’s impossible to say for certain, however, because members of Congress are not required to disclose the exact amounts of their investments. <\/p>\n

The trades are especially newsworthy <\/span>for their timing<\/a>: beginning just a few months before the U.S. House of Representatives passed the the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment & Expungement Act (MORE) in December, which would serve to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level \u2014 a key goal of advocates who say the drug’s <\/span>current status<\/a> <\/span>as a controlled substance represents a key roadblock to full legalization. Foxx voted against the measure.<\/p>\n

Her investments raise concerns over the ethical problems members of Congress create when trading individual stocks within an industry their actions have the potential to influence.<\/p>\n

“This is so obviously a conflict of interest, I’m just not sure what else I can say, really,” Richard Painter, a former White House ethics attorney under President George W. Bush and University of Minnesota law professor, told Salon. “It brings into question her credibility as a lawmaker.”<\/p>\n

Rep. Foxx’s office did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The MORE Act ultimately wasn’t taken up for a vote in the then-Republican-controlled Senate, effectively killing the measure. It was reintroduced in the House Friday by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-New York, and has a greater chance of success given the Senate’s new Democratic majority.<\/p>\n

At least four of Foxx’s investments in marijuana-industry stock came between the initial MORE Act vote in December and Friday. In all, records show she has purchased somewhere between $79,000 and $210,000 in Altria stock. It remains unclear whether she is currently holding these investments \u2014 though no sales have been reported.<\/p>\n

Legalization has been a hot-button issue for the North Carolina representative, whose inflammatory public statements on the matter have been staunchly against several initiatives spearheaded by House Democrats.<\/p>\n

“Democrats can’t get their minds off pot bills, and they think it’s more important than: Supporting small businesses, Safely reopening schools, Protecting the livelihoods of Americans,” she wrote on Twitter. “No wonder their majority is shrinking. They’re so far removed from reality.”<\/p>\n

\n

Democrats can\u2019t get their minds off pot bills, and they think it\u2019s more important than:<\/p>\n

Supporting small businesses \"\u274c\"<\/p>\n

Safely reopening schools \"\u274c\"<\/p>\n

Protecting the livelihoods of Americans \"\u274c\"<\/p>\n

No wonder their majority is shrinking. They\u2019re so far removed from reality.<\/p>\n

— Virginia Foxx (@virginiafoxx) December 1, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n