Public documents reveal that Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, sold more than $500,000 worth of Visa stock less than three months before the credit card giant was hit with federal antitrust charges. The New York Post reports on the lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday, alleges that Visa has illegally monopolized the debit card market, following a lengthy review by the Justice Department’s antitrust division.
The suit claims that Visa used its dominant market position to penalize merchants and customers who chose to use competing payment processors. The company allegedly threatened financial technology firms, pressuring them to collaborate with Visa or face penalties.
Christopher Josephs, founder of the popular “Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker” on X (formerly Twitter), shared a screenshot of a congressional filing on July 3, which disclosed that Paul Pelosi sold 2,000 Visa shares valued between $500,000 and $1 million. The filing marks the transaction as “SP,” meaning it was executed by Paul Pelosi, a venture capitalist and real estate investor based in San Francisco, adds The Post.
At the time of the sale, there was no public indication of the impending antitrust lawsuit against Visa. Shares of Visa subsequently dropped 5.5% to $272.78 after news of the lawsuit broke.
A spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi reiterated that the congresswoman does not own stocks and has no prior knowledge or involvement in her husband’s stock transactions. Despite this, critics have raised concerns about whether Nancy Pelosi’s influential role in Washington grants her access to non-public market information.
Ron Geffner, a former enforcement attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), commented on the situation, noting the potential for conflicts of interest when government officials or their spouses engage in stock trading. Geffner urged caution, stating, “Before public opinion judges Pelosi unfairly, it is important to determine who engaged in the transaction on her behalf as well as whether it was part of a broader change of her portfolio.”
The July 3 filing also showed that Paul Pelosi sold 2,500 shares of Tesla while purchasing stock in Nvidia and Broadcom, further indicating significant portfolio adjustments.
The antitrust lawsuit comes after years of scrutiny, explains The Post. In 2021, Visa disclosed in a regulatory filing that the Justice Department’s antitrust unit had requested information regarding potential violations of competitive laws. Federal investigators have reportedly examined Visa’s relationships with companies like Square, Stripe, and PayPal.
The investigation centers on allegations that Visa offered financial incentives to prevent these companies from using competing payment processors. Investigators are particularly focused on whether Visa coerced PayPal into encouraging customers to use Visa-branded cards, and whether Visa offered lower fees to Square’s subsidiary, Cash App, in exchange for steering customers toward Visa services.
Visa maintains that its debit practices comply with applicable laws and has stated that it is cooperating with the investigation. The company has previously handed over documents and data related to its U.S. debit card business, asserting its compliance with legal standards.ate all of their theories about illegal voting in our elections, even though we all know that’s not true,’ Hobbs, the governor, fretted on the call, according to The Washington Post.
Mayes worried about the outcome if they removed the voters from the ballot: ‘The reality is that if we let this happen, all of these elections are challengeable. They’re going to be calling for a new election.’
Hobbs replied: ‘They’re going to be calling for new 2020 and ’22 elections as well.’