House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had a testy exchange with a reporter during her press briefing today when she was asked if her investments with Visa created a conflict of interest given that she made the investments when legislation considered distasteful to credit card companies was under consideration in the House of Representatives.
“I wanted to ask you why you and your husband, back in March of 2008, accepted and participated in a very large IPO deal from Visa at a time [when] there was major legislation affecting the credit card companies making its way through the House?” the reporter asked Pelosi, adding “did you consider that to be a conflict of interest?”
The question caught the former House Speaker flat-footed and the exchange because immediately confrontational. “I don’t know what your point is of your question,” she responded at first, “is there some point that you want to make some point with that?”
The reporter rephrased, “I guess what I’m asking is, do you think it’s alright for a Speaker to accept a very preferential, favorable stock deal [Well we didn’t, that isn’t the case, she interjected] at a time when there is major legislation affecting that company in the House?”
Pelosi denied the idea that she had taken such a deal and praised the 2009 and 2010 legislative achievements of the Democratic Congress.
Given her comments about financial industry spending against Maloney, it might be worth pointing out that Pelosi’s campaign committee and leadership PAC have received a significant amount of money in campaign contributions from the financial sector. The two entities received $243,200 combined from individuals and PACs associated with the Securities and Investments industry, which ranked second among industries that donated to her campaign committee and leadership PAC, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). During that cycle, PACs for both JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs reportedly contributed $20,000 each to Pelosi’s campaign committee and/or her leadership PAC. In 2010, CRP says that the Securities and Investments industry provided her PAC and campaign committee with $181,200.
When the reporter noted that the Dodd-Frank bill (with the Durbin amendment that produced the Durbin fees) passed two years after the investment with Visa that he was questioning, Pelosi took a shot at former President Bush. “It [passed] when we had a president who would sign the bill, and that’s when we passed what Carolyn Maloney had. There was no interest on the part of President Bush to sign such a bill.”
She then tried to end the conversation, saying “the fact is, your basic premise is a false one and it’s no use our spending any more time on it.”
When the reporter countered that she “participated in the IPO while there was a bill very unfavorable to the credit card companies” in the House, Pelosi dismissed the criticism. “I will hold my record in terms of fighting the credit card companies as a Speaker of the House or as a member of Congress up against anyone.”
“It only has the appearance [of a conflict of interest] if you decide that you’re going to elaborate a false premise,” Pelosi said to the reporter when asked again about her investment. “It’s not true, and that’s that.”
She added that the part of his question that was not true was “that I would act on an investment.”
