Republican Rep Lauren Boebert fails to report crypto transactions in 2021

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., failed to file transactions reports for several crypto purchases made in 2021, according to her annual financial statement filed on August 13. 

Under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge of 2012 (STOCK) Act, members of US House of Representatives are required to file a “periodic transactions report” for each securities trade over $1,000 made by them, their spouse and dependent children no later than 45 days after the transactions. 

In the annual financial statement, Boebert listed one checking asset jointly owned by her and spouse Jayson Boebert and several other assets solely owned by her husband, including a cryptocurrency with value between $1,001 and $15,000.  

The statement further listed eight crypto transactions – four purchases and four sales – between May 5 and 7. All transactions are made through Jayson’s account at trading site Robinhood.

The value of each transaction is unknown, as the report only noted their range of between $1,001 and $15,000. None of the transactions resulted in more than $200 in profits, according to the filing. 

A further search of the House financial disclosure database on Lauren Boebert in the 2021 filing year only generated the annual report, but not the periodic transactions report as required by the STOCK Act. 

The lawmaker did not respond to The Block’s request for comment. 

Several politicians in Congress are known to invest in crypto, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who purchased bitcoin valued between $15,001 and $50,000 in January; Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.,  who invested between $1,000 and $15,000 in two Grayscale’s major cryptocurrency products; and Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., who bought up to $100,000 worth of bitcoin on August 16.

Boebert’s case is “a serious violation” of the STOCK Act, which prohibits members of Congress from using private information derived from their positions for personal benefit, because she did not submit the periodic transactions report at all, said Kedric Payne, vice president of Campaign Legal Center and former deputy chief counsel of the Office of Congressional Ethics. In most violation cases, filings come in late.

There is a campaign for the US Congress to push for a ban of stockholdings for lawmakers in office — a campaign that has found bipartisan support but is currently stalled. While the campaign stops short of mentioning crypto, a similar ban has been imposed at the Federal Reserve, where senior officials are barred from several investment activities, including cryptocurrencies.

“The frequent transactions in cryptocurrency add to the public’s awareness of this problem,” Payne said.

This story has been updated with comments from Kedric Payne.

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