Pelosi was one target of a recent '60 Minutes' investigation that looked into Hill trading practices. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Pelosi backs insider trading ban

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she would back legislative efforts that would ban insider trading among members of Congress.

Pelosi, one target of a recent CBS “60 Minutes” investigation that looked at the trading practices of members of Congress, said she would support such a bill coming to the House floor, saying “it seems like it would fly through Congress.”


“It’s important,” the California Democrat said Thursday of such legislation. “I would hope that it’s not as necessary as the whoop-de-doo over it makes it seem. But I do think that we all disclose what we do.”

In November, “60 Minutes” aired a piece that looked accusations toward Pelosi, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) that they may have personally profited by private information they had as lawmakers – claims all three have dismissed.

Legislation in the House that would toughen rules on lawmakers’ investments has picked up steam since the report. The “Stock Act,” sponsored by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) and Tim Walz (D-Minn.), would ban lawmakers and federal workers from trading on non-public information they’ve obtained through their jobs.

Relatively obscure before the report, the Stock Act – short for Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act – now has 131 co-sponsors.

Meanwhile, a Senate committee was to hold a hearing Thursday called “Insider Trading and Congressional Accountability” that was sparked by allegations raised in the “60 Minutes” report. Bachus has also said his House panel would hold a Dec. 6 hearing on the Stock Act.

During a news conference later Thursday, Boehner said he supported the hearings but said that the House and the Securities and Exchange Commission already have clear guidelines on the issue.

“The hearings are a step in the right direction to determine whether there’s a need for such a bill to move,” the speaker said. “We’ll let those hearings proceed.”