Gabbard says 'system is rigged' after public conjecture over Paul Pelosi stock buy
Gabbard was a 2020 Democratic presidential contender
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., continues to face questions over a stock purchase her businessman husband Paul Pelosi made in semiconductor company Nvidia ahead of a congressional vote on related chips subsidy legislation.
Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, a onetime Democratic presidential candidate, told Fox News the allegations being bandied about are similar to what she saw while she was in the chamber.
"What we're seeing here is the same thing that I saw when I was in Congress — is this blatant corruption being exposed in broad daylight — the system is rigged," she said on "Jesse Watters Primetime."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We have people in positions of power to pass legislation, to enact new policies. They can see, 'OK, here are the industries or companies that will benefit from this. I'm going to go and make these investments, buy this stock or that stock, or have my husband or wife do it and then make money in the process,'" Gabbard explained.
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Paul and Nancy Pelosi. (Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images))
Gabbard did not comment in detail about conjecture about Pelosi, but said she introduced legislation during her time in office that would put a tighter ban on such a dynamic between lawmakers, family members and the markets.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think it's important also to look at this, especially in the environment that we're in right now. What is even more dangerous than what we're seeing here is that we have members of Congress who are investing in companies or industries that will benefit from a new Cold War or conflict, for example," she added.
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Paul Pelosi visits an Italian beach. (Backgrid)
"And these are the very same people who are making the policies, who have a vested interest in stoking those tensions and amping up this new Cold War, directly benefiting from it, and simultaneously undermining our actual national security for our country and the interests of the American people."
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Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
Fox News Digital previously asked the speaker if Paul had ever made stock purchases or trades after hearing about the financial goings-on of Capitol Hill.
"No," Pelosi said. "Absolutely not."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Watters previously took a deep dive into another story involving Paul Pelosi, which he described as the murky circumstances surrounding the businessman's drunk driving arrest near Napa, Calif., earlier in 2022.
Fox Business' Houston Keene contributed to this report.