Earlier today, Tall Tale Tammy Miller launched a new TV ad accusing Kelly Armstrong of insider trading as a member of Congress. But here’s the problem: Kelly Armstrong has NEVER bought or sold a stock while serving in Congress. That means that Miller, who is running her campaign touting her experience in finance, either has no idea what she is talking about or is purposefully trying to mislead her fellow North Dakotans by thinking they don’t know the difference between stock trading and mutual funds. Miller’s claim even left The Fargo Forum's Rob Port perplexed, who observed, “How one would go about engaging in insider trading with mutual fund investments is beyond me.”
Read his column on Miller’s latest tall tale below:
Armstrong calls latest Miller ad a 'straight up lie'
Opinion by Rob Port
"I have never bought or sold an individual stock during my time in Congress," said Rep. Kelly Armstrong, who is running against Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller in North Dakota's Republican gubernatorial primary.
MINOT — In her latest television ad, titled "Reasons," Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller's campaign accuses her opponent in the Republican gubernatorial primary, U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong, of insider trading.
"435 members of Congress, 13 voted to keep insider trading in Congress legal, one from North Dakota with 150,000 reasons," the cliched political attack ad narrator voice tells us. "Six days before the stock market crashed, Kelly Armstrong sold up to 150 grand worth of shares. That's the real Kelly Armstrong, career politician and D.C. insider, trading on our trust to line his own pockets. Kelly Armstrong, not who you think."
Armstrong's campaign responded to the ad in a released statement, calling it a "lie."
“This is the problem with poll testing a campaign, it might be a good message but it's a straight up lie,” Armstrong said. “I have never bought or sold an individual stock during my time in Congress."
The ad juxtaposes Armstrong's stock sale with legislation — specifically H.R. 2534, which passed the House but hasn't been voted on in the Senate — prohibiting insider trading by Congress members. Which is to say, using privileged information about specific companies to make lucrative stock trades.
But Armstrong's campaign says that's not what happened with the transaction referenced in the ad. "Her ad references plain old mutual funds that many North Dakotans have in their retirement accounts," campaign spokesperson JacySchafer says. "Tammy has based her entire candidacy for governor on financial literacy, so clearly knows Kelly never traded a stock in Congress. North Dakota voters are smart — Tammy's desperate lie is not fooling anyone or distracting us from her own record of liberal donations and woke identity policies."
A mutual fund is a pool of money from its investors that is, in turn, used to make investments such as buying stocks in individual companies. Essentially, when you buy into a mutual fund, you're investing in the investment acumen of its managers. I'm certain I don't need to explain this to most of you readers, because this is fairly typical stuff. Very routine for retirement investing or longterm savings.
How one would go about engaging in insider trading with mutual fund investments is beyond me.
It is true that Armstrong was one of a small minority in the House — just 13 people — who voted against the legislation. Armstrong, a former defense attorney, justified that vote by saying the bill is unconstitutional and it would give too much power to bureaucracy.
"We’ve seen the weaponization of the justice system. The last thing we need is to give unelected bureaucrats in D.C. the power to decide what constitutes a crime after the fact," he said. "The bill was unconstitutionally vague. Empowered the SEC to exempt companies from insider trading. All so members of Congress could say they were cracking down on insider trading. I don’t vote for unconstitutional bills just because it’s good politics.”
Follow Kelly on social media or check out his website:
Paid for by Armstrong for Governor, Carma Hanson, Treasurer
