In Congress, itis hard to find a lawmaker willing to oppose a ban on insider trading, at least rhetorically. The idea is popular with voters, and members of Congress are usually happy to condemn it in public, even if their enthusiasm for real restrictions tends to arrive only after they leave office. On occasion, that hypocrisy becomes impossible to miss. 

Elaine Luria, the Democrat challenging Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, is now running an ad accusing President Trump of “cashing in” while ordinary Americans struggle with higher costs. The ad casts Kiggans as a fellow traveler and concludes with Luria endorsing a ban on congressional stock trading.

That would sound like an ordinary campaign message, if Luria had not spent her previous House tenure opposing such a ban, and "cashing in" herself.

Luria entered Congress in 2019 and served through 2023. But in 2022, she forcefully opposed a ban on congressional stock trading. 

“I think this whole concept is bulls**t,” she said at the time. “Because I think that, why would you assume that members of Congress are going to be inherently bad or corrupt? We already have the STOCK Act that requires people to report stock trades.” 

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Her position is worth revisiting now that she is presenting herself as a champion of a ban, and considering that her net worth grew by around $7 million according to some estimates, although that number is contested. She even voted on legislation to provide billions in subsidies to chip manufacturing while holding up to $25 million of stocks in NVIDIA, according to Breitbart. But only now, as she seeks reelection, is it appropriate to come out in favor of a ban on insider trading. 

And it appears to be a sensitive subject for Luria, as she has refused to answer questions about her alleged net worth increase during her time in Congress. Her silence is not indicative of any wrongdoing, but it does leave voters with a fair question: if her financial record is harmless, why not take the time to explain it?

As we all know, convenience is the name of the game in politics, and Elaine Luria has taken it to another level.