CREW files ethics complaint against Rep. Mike Garcia

Rep. Mike Garcia should be investigated for apparently violating the STOCK Act and other ethics rules, according to a complaint filed today by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington with the Office of Congressional Ethics.

Garcia sold thousands of dollars of previously undisclosed stock in Boeing while the House Transportation Committee was investigating Boeing, then failed to timely disclose those and other trades until shortly after his constituents had cast their votes for his reelection.

“The public should be confident that members of Congress are acting in the people’s interest, not using their positions to enrich themselves or advance their own interests–that’s why Congress is governed by ethics laws and rules,” CREW President Noah Bookbinder said. “Rep. Garcia’s sale of Boeing stock in the midst of the Transportation Committee’s investigation–and his failure to disclose that sale until after an election–is exactly what these laws are meant to prevent.”

Garcia joined the Transportation Committee in 2020 as it was investigating Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft, which had been grounded following crashes. At the time, he apparently owned tens of thousands of dollars of Boeing stock which he did not disclose on his financial disclosure forms. Five weeks before the release of the Committee’s scathing report on Boeing, Garcia sold between $15,000-$50,000 in Boeing stock. He did not disclose the sale until after he was reelected by a mere 333 votes. To this day, Rep. Garcia has not fully disclosed how much money he made from his undisclosed Boeing investments.

“Rep. Garcia’s actions contribute to the continuing erosion of public confidence in Congress,” Bookbinder said. “The only clear fix for this is for Congress to ban the ownership and sale of stocks by lawmakers.”