Insider: Another Democratic lawmaker has violated a federal conflict-of-interest and transparency law by not disclosing a stock trade for weeks

As Congress actively debates whether to ban its members from trading stocks, yet another Democratic lawmaker has violated the disclosure provisions of an existing law designed to defend against conflicts of interest and provide public transparency.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Democrat of Colorado, was about three weeks late disclosing that his wife, Nancy Perlmutter, purchased between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of stock in the Kroger Company, which operates grocery and other retail stores.

In acknowledging the late filing to Insider, Perlmutter’s congressional office said that the stock transaction from July 19 was valued at $1,387 — lawmakers are only required to report the value of trades in broad ranges — and is part of a retirement account associated with her job as a teacher.

“Due to a miscommunication Rep. Perlmutter’s accountant didn’t receive the July report until early this week. Upon receipt he immediately filed,” Danielle Radovich Piper, Perlmutter’s chief of staff, told Insider. …

Since 2021, Insider and other media organizations have identified 72 members of Congress — a cross-section of Republicans and Democrats, leaders and back-benchers — who’ve violated the STOCK Act’s disclosure provisions by failing to properly report their various financial trades or holdings.

Reasons for these violations range from lawmakers “being sloppy to just not caring about stock disclosure,” said Aaron Scherb of nonpartisan government reform group Common Cause.