Sludge, a newsroom dedicated to fighting corruption, reported that Cindy Axne is still buying and selling stocks in companies she oversees in Congress. 

This comes after Axne was caught breaking the law and failing to disclose $645,000 in stock trades. 

Here's the problem: Cindy Axne could be using information she is learning from her committee work to influence her stock trades. As Sludge points out, "The Financial Services Committee’s jurisdiction is wide-ranging, covering banks and banking, money and credit, securities and exchanges, and “insurance generally,” among other areas. Axne is the vice chair of its Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance."

While Axne is trading stock in companies like Visa, Mastercard, and Global Payments, Inc., it raises some real questions, especially when her top sources of contributions are coming from the Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate sector. 

Sludge asked Axne how she could, "reassure the public that her household’s financial company stock transactions were not influenced by her committee work," and was left without a response. 

It is a very simple task to reassure constituents that you are not using your elected office for personal gain, lining your pockets because of your committee work. 

Not only did Axne fail to answer this simple question, she did not comment on three pieces of legislation to ban members of Congress from, "transacting in individual corporate securities while in office."

"What does Axne have to hide? Using private information you learn on the job to influence your stock trades is very concerning and it shouldn't be difficult to condemn," said Republican Party of Iowa Communications Director Kollin Crompton. "It's important for Iowans to know if Axne is lining her pockets with shady stock trades, yet she continues to hide from questions regarding the concerning circumstances."

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