In the days leading up to their massive lawsuit against VISA, Donald Trump implied that Nancy and Paul Pelosi need to face investigation for selling off a substantial portion of their shares.
The 84-year-old Paul sold the stock on July 1 for about half a million dollars. To what extent he profited from the deal is uncertain.
At a campaign appearance in Michigan on Friday, September 27, 78-year-old Trump made an unfounded accusation that Paul had sold the shares the "day before" the Justice Department's legal filing, OK! Magazine reported.
"I’m not much into this stuff, but Visa crashed because the government went after. The government filed a big suit against Visa. Nancy and her husband sold their stock the day before it was announced," he informed his followers.
"So why don’t we get some AG [attorney general] somewhere, like in a Republican territory, and why don’t we get them to, do a little investigation? Sold the Visa stock! Are you listening?" he asked. "They’re probably turning off the cameras now."
On the other hand, VISA was accused of "illegally maintain[ing] a monopoly over debit network markets" in the Department of Justice's civil complaint, which was not filed until late September.
This past week, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland addressed the case in a statement, CBS News reported.
"We allege that Visa has unlawfully amassed the power to extract fees that far exceed what it could charge in a competitive market. Merchants and banks pass along those costs to consumers, either by raising prices or reducing quality or service. As a result, Visa’s unlawful conduct affects not just the price of one thing — but the price of nearly everything," the declaration stated.
Trump has demanded an investigation into the Pelosi family, over two weeks after the 84-year-old former House Speaker made fun of the 78-year-old's performance in the debate on September 10, AP News reported.
"You know one of those big balloons when you stick a pin in it and it swirls around the room until it comes down to nothing? That’s what he reminds me of. Just less and less and less and less, like somebody stuck a pin in him, and he’s just greatly diminished. I do think that people saw a big distinction as to who can be the commander in chief, who is respected," she stated back then.
Christopher Josephs, the tech person behind X's "Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker" (as reported by the POST), posted a document detailing Paul Pelosi's sale of 2,000 shares of Visa stock on July 3, as reported by the publication. Between half a million and one million dollars was the value of the shares.
Paul Francis Pelosi is a businessman located in San Francisco who manages Financial Leasing Services, which specializes in real estate, venture capital investments, and consultancy. The paper referred to it as a "SP," which stands for Paul Francis.
After allegations were leveled against the politician, a representative for Pelosi informed the POST, "Speaker Pelosi does not own any stocks, and she has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions."
