Rep. Fallon may have violated STOCK act

Pat Fallon was recently one of about four dozen people on Capitol Hill who could be be in violation of the “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge” also known as the STOCK act. This prohibits members and employees of Congress from using “any nonpublic information derived from the individual’s position ... or gained from performance of the individual’s duties, for personal benefit.” Fallon is the U.S. representative for Texas’s 4th congressional district which until this coming election represents Cass County. After the election, Fallon will no longer represent Cass County because of redistricting.

According to Business Insider, Fallon, “was late reporting up to $18 million in stock trades earlier this year, missed the deadline again in December. Federally required disclosure documents showed the first-term lawmaker was nearly two months late disclosing a purchase of up to $100,000 worth of stock in the investment firm Owl Rock Capital Corp. — weeks past the 30-day deadline prescribed by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012. Fallon’s office did not respond to requests for comment. “

It was reported by the New York Post that Fallon, “who supervises the Defense Department’s tech spending dumped up to $250,000 worth of Microsoft stock two weeks before the Pentagon revealed it was canceling a $10 billion contract with the software giant, according to public documents.

“US Rep. Pat Fallon, a Texas Republican who sits on a key subcommittee oversee-ing the Department of Defense’s technology policy, sold between $100,000 and $250,000 of Microsoft shares on June 21, government disclosures show.”

In the same article, it was reported that it was not “the first time that Fallon, sworn in just six months ago, has landed in hot water over his stock trades. In June, Insider reported that Fallon potentially violated federal ethics laws by failing to disclose up to $17 million in stock trades within 30 days of making them. “

In a separate article, a representative for Fallon “Luke Bell told Insider that the first-term congressman was unfamiliar with filing requirements.

“As a freshman member, Congressman Fallon was unfamiliar with how frequently members of Congress are required to file financial disclosures, having served in other public offices where the requirements are different,” Bell said in an email. “Upon learning of the requirement, he immediately filed a disclosure with the appropriate entities. That disclosure is available for the public to review. Congressman Fallon looks forward to remaining in compliance with future filings.”

According to the Dallas Morning News, “If Fallon’s case is taken up by the House Committee on Ethics, he could face a penalty. But any fines would probably be low, around $200, based on prior disclosure violations.”