In a forthcoming interview, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he supports a ban on congressional stock trading, and cites his experience as a House member.
“I was a congressman for three terms,” the Republican presidential candidate tells CNBC’s Brian Sullivan, according to a transcript the network sent out ahead of the Monday night airing of the interview. “I sold all my stock before I went in because I used to do day trading – not that I had a lot of money, but I would do it. I just stopped doing it because the thing is, is if I traded something, someone will then say maybe some vote was there. And I didn’t even want the appearance of impropriety.”
But the Republican presidential candidate’s financial disclosure reports show that DeSantis continued to hold a small amount of stock in two companies — Sirius XM Holdings Inc. and United States Steel Corp. — throughout his time in the House from 2013 to 2018. DeSantis only reported one transaction while in Congress, reporting that he moved cash from a Scottrade brokerage account to his bank accounts in 2016.
DeSantis’ 2018 financial disclosure form filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics also shows the Scottrade brokerage account holding $1,851 in U.S. Steel stock and $1,716 in Sirius XM stock.
It appears that DeSantis did sell off most of his stocks before taking office — his 2012 disclosure form as a congressional candidate shows holdings worth between $1,001 and $15,000 in companies like Altria and ExxonMobil and the sale of shares in other companies and exchange-traded funds. But he held onto U.S. Steel and Sirius XM.
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