Bachus denies that he traded stock optinos on any non-public information. Blogs target Bachus after 'insider' report

The knives are out for House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), as bloggers on the left and right call for accountability over allegations he profited from insider knowledge of the 2008 financial meltdown.

The allegations, which aired as part of a CBS 60 Minutes investigative report Sunday evening, are that Bachus traded stock options after being briefed by Treasury Department and Federal Reserve officials about the impending economic collapse. Bachus denies that he traded on any non-public information.


While the CBS report also cited the alleged trading activities of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the online conversation is funneling most of its outrage toward Bachus.

“Forget Pelosi, Here’s The Most Stunning Detail From The Congressional Insider Trading Report,” reads the title of a post at BusinessInsider, which continues, “the most shocking revelation actually concerns a lesser-known Congressman, Rep. Spencer Bachus, who shorted the market as the economy collapsed in 2008.”

“Hugely damning,” writes Alex Tabarrok about the report at the blog Marginial Revolution, after singling out the part of the CBS transcript about Bachus.

Slate writer Dave Weigel adds that the accusations against Bachus are “one of the ugliest revelations so far” in the book that the 60 Minutes report is based on.

Further, many voices in the blogosphere don’t believe Bachus’ denials, and Sunday evening’s report led to a flurry of Tweets and blog posts calling for Bachus to resign.

The calls for Bachus’ head are being led by conservative gadfly Andrew Breitbart, whose blog published documents related to the accusations. Breitbart gave an interview and took to Twitter to demand Bachus quit.

“I want to see these people taken down. I want them to suffer Anthony Weiner’s fate. I want them to step down. I am calling for Spencer Bachus to step down, not [just] from being the chairman of the House finance committee. I think he should be in Joe Paterno-ville, he should be in exile,” said Breitbart Sunday evening in an interview with the conservative Media Research Center. “His constituency should surround his district office and call for him to be there, with pitchforks. What he did was egregious.”

Some other conservative blogs soon joined in.

“Let me just say that I stand with Andrew Breitbart and call on Representative Bachus to resign. Had he been a member of the general public, he would be going to prison for his actions. He’s a disgrace to this nation, as are all other members of Congress who engage in this behavior,” wrote conservative blog Mighty Serf.

“Entitlements for the needy? Or entitlements for the greedy? Which is worse? Rep. Bachus must resign,” tweeted @idollady.

But the outrage was not solely confined to the right, as one progressive blogger predicted that this scandal would make Bachus vulnerable to a Democratic challenge. Bachus has run unopposed by a Democrat for the last decade.

“This is how people go to Congress and end up filthy rich within a few years. However wrong these trades may be — and they are very, very wrong by my moral yardstick — it apparently doesn’t break any laws. You, or I, or Martha Stewart, or anyone outside of Congress would certainly go to jail if we traded on privileged, inside information,” writes Left in Alabama. “It’s absolutely essential for Democrats to field a contender against Bachus next year. He’s a poster child for the greed and corruption of the 1%.”

Progressive blogger Pat Garofalo also commented on the charges at ThinkProgress, writing that Bachus “seemed to believe that Washington’s role is to serve his own bank account.”

This article tagged under: Spencer Bachus