Daily Beast: This Dem May Hate Facebook, but Her Stock Portfolio Doesn’t

Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) points the finger at Facebook for its role in spreading disinformation and adding to “divisiveness” in U.S. politics that ultimately led to the Jan. 6 insurrection—an event she has been charged with investigating.

And while Luria may truly want to “hold tech companies accountable,” she also wants tech company holdings in her account.

According to her 2021 financial disclosure, Luria holds between $1 million and $5 million in Facebook (now “Meta”) stock. Those holdings, owned jointly with her husband, make her the largest Facebook shareholder in Congress, and might appear to undercut the force of her criticism. …

Stephen Spaulding, senior counsel for public policy at good government group Common Cause, told The Daily Beast that disclosure rules are valuable precisely for these scenarios.

“Disclosure of Members’ financial holdings is a way for their constituents to evaluate potential conflicts of interest and hold their elected leaders accountable to the public interest. That’s what the transparency concerning Rep. Luria’s financial holdings in Facebook affords the public in this example,” Spaulding said. He added that proposed reforms “ought to be a pillar of consensus” in Congress.