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The public uproar in response to Sunday’s 60 minutes investigation into legalized Congressional insider trading has rattled Washington DC. Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts yesterday introduced the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or STOCK Act. The STOCK Act would prohibit elected officials and staff from trading stock based on information gleaned on pending legislation in meetings and from each other. Government officials can currently trade using non-public information, but so far none will admit to doing so. The man who sparked interest in the issue is Peter Schweizer, a fellow at the conservative think tank, the Hoover Institute, and author of an upcoming book on “soft corruption” in Washington. Talking to Steve Kroft of 60 minutes, Schweizer gave an example of how an elected official could use privileged information for personal gain. 60 minutes specifically investigated the trading activity of three officials, Speaker of the House John Boehner, Congresswomen Nancy Pelosi, and Congressman Spencer Bachus. Pelosi, accused of buying stock in Visa credit card company shortly before legislation harmful to credit card profits died in the House, said 60 minutes crafted a “smear ” piece. Boehner, accused of profiting from knowledge of pending healthcare legislation, and Bachus, accused of making profitable trades after highly sensitive meetings on finance during the economic collapse in 2008, each professed to maintaining a firewall between their jobs and their investments.

GUEST: Craig Holman, Legislative Representative for Public Citizen. He serves as the organization’s Capitol Hill lobbyist on campaign finance and governmental ethics.

Find out more at www.citizen.org.

Watch the 60 minutes special here: http://tinyurl.com/89p8a6u