Visa Hit WIth Antitrust Lawsuit

By
Jennifer Gray
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In what we can all agree is just an astounding stroke of good fortune, Paul Pelosi — yes, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — managed to sell off more than $500,000 worth of Visa stock just months before the company was slapped with an antitrust lawsuit by the Department of Justice. Pure coincidence, right? Because there’s no way someone with a direct line to one of the most powerful figures in Washington could have had any advance knowledge of a federal lawsuit about to shake the financial foundations of one of America’s biggest credit card companies. Nope, no insider info here at all.

To lay out the facts: On Tuesday, Visa was hit with a federal lawsuit accusing the company of monopolizing the debit card market, forcing consumers and merchants to swallow billions in fees. The DOJ has been investigating Visa for years, culminating in a suit that alleges the company has used its overwhelming market dominance to punish competitors and jack up fees that are eventually passed on to consumers.

The Justice Department claims Visa’s practices have impacted the price of “nearly everything” Americans purchase. With over 60% of U.S. debit transactions running through Visa’s network, the company was positioned to rake in $7 billion a year in fees that might not exist in a fair, competitive market.

But let’s get back to Paul Pelosi. You see, on July 3, just three months before this bombshell lawsuit was announced, Paul Pelosi sold between $500,000 and $1 million worth of Visa stock. At the time of the sale, there was no public indication of any looming lawsuit. None. The stock market had no clue, but somehow Paul had the wisdom — or maybe the foresight — to dump his shares just in time. And, of course, as soon as the suit was announced, Visa’s stock began to tumble.

Christopher Josephs, the guy behind the “Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker” on X, noted that the timing was impeccable. According to congressional filings, Paul’s Visa stock transaction was marked “SP” for spouse, meaning Nancy’s husband made the trade. Now, it’s one thing to have a lucky streak, but this timing is just too perfect to ignore. Paul Pelosi isn’t some bumbling investor; he’s a savvy venture capitalist. It’s hard to believe this was just a hunch.

Let’s also remember Nancy Pelosi handed over the Speaker’s gavel in 2023, but she didn’t retire from politics. She’s still representing California’s 11th Congressional District, a seat that could probably elect a houseplant as long as it has a “D” next to its name. And in case you were wondering, Nancy’s net worth when she stepped down as Speaker was estimated at a cool $171.4 million.

That’s quite a tidy sum, and it’s not all family money. The Pelosi family has had some remarkable “coincidences” in the stock market. It’s enough to make you wonder just how many times they’ve benefited from a well-timed trade — trades that always seem to work out just before major government action that sends stock prices tumbling.

Does anyone really believe Nancy Pelosi doesn’t have friends in the DOJ? Of course, she does. This is a woman who has been at the top of the political game for decades. The Pelosi family’s miraculous run of good luck in the stock market raises some pretty serious questions about insider trading and corruption. This Visa sell-off is just the latest example. How do you think these people in Congress, who supposedly earn modest salaries, end up stinking rich by the time they leave office? If you’re looking for a playbook, here it is: insider information and graft.

Isn’t it time we started holding these people accountable for their financial dealings? If the Pelosi family’s repeated wins in the stock market don’t raise alarms, what will? The American people deserve leadership that isn’t profiting off insider tips while regular folks are left holding the bag.

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