Washington Post Editorial on the STOCK Act
The Washington Post has an editorial today -- entitled "Laughing STOCK" in today's print editions -- criticizing the STOCK Act's internet publication mandate for executive branch financial disclosure forms.
Here are two key excerpts:
As its name implies, the act was conceived with the legitimate aim of preventing insider trading in Congress.
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
The Washington Post has an editorial today -- entitled "Laughing STOCK" in today's print editions -- criticizing the STOCK Act's internet publication mandate for executive branch financial disclosure forms.
Here are two key excerpts:
As its name implies, the act was conceived with the legitimate aim of preventing insider trading in Congress. Four months after it was signed into law, however, it’s clear that a portion of the act would do far more than that, potentially jeopardizing national security along with the personal safety of more than 28,000 executive-branch employees. ... Furthermore, the Privacy Act — which doesn’t apply to Congress — protects federal agencies, and if lawmakers decide to keep some version of Section 11 intact, they must find a way to require disclosure without compromising the protection that online disclosure would deny these officials. If they don’t, there’s a major disincentive for a pool of talented, un-elected employees to continue working for the government. National security concerns aside, that’s a risk lawmakers shouldn’t be willing to take.
John B. Bellinger III is a partner in the international and national security law practices at Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC. He is also Adjunct Senior Fellow in International and National Security Law at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as The Legal Adviser for the Department of State from 2005–2009, as Senior Associate Counsel to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council at the White House from 2001–2005, and as Counsel for National Security Matters in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice from 1997–2001.
