Exclusive: Congressman Gutierrez Calls Out Carl Icahn For Possible Insider Trading Around Trump Tariffs
Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez demanded on Thursday that the Securities and Exchange Commission investigate “possible illegal insider trading” involving investor Carl Icahn. The billionaire sold $30 million worth of stock in an industrial company a week before President Trump announced potential tariffs on imported steel.
In a letter to SEC chairman Jay Clayton that was exclusively obtained by Cheddar, Rep. Gutierrez states Icahn’s decision to sell [shares in the Manitowoc Co.](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/377198-former-trump-adviser-icahn-denies-knowledge-of-tariffs-before-steel) so close to Trump’s announcement is “highly suspicious,” and the friendly relationship between Trump and Icahn “adds to the appearance of wrongdoing.”
“If this was a member of Congress that had done exactly the same thing...I’m sure there’d be an indictment,” the Democratic congressman told Cheddar in an exclusive interview Thursday.
Icahn formerly served as a special advisor to Trump. In late February, he sold $31.3 million of shares in Manitowoc at about $32 to $34 each. But because the company, which makes construction cranes, relies on steel for its products, its stock price plummeted almost 6 percent when President Trump announced last week that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports.
Shares of Manitowoc closed Wednesday at $28.16, about 11 percent lower than Icahn’s lowest selling price.
Trump formalized his decision on tariffs Thursday afternoon.
In a statement responding to the allegation, Icahn said he reduced his position in Manitowoc “for legitimate investment reasons having nothing to do with that announcement.”
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
