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Peltola pivots on the Second Amendment: It’s now to ‘defend ourselves and our food from wild animals’

Suzanne Downing
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Peltola pivots on the Second Amendment: It’s now to ‘defend ourselves and our food from wild animals’

Congresswoman Mary Peltola, with a D rating from the NRA and increasing criticism from Alaska gun owners, has edited her views on the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

Before this week, she said the Second Amendment, Americans’ right to own firearms, was intended for hunting. She said there needs to be stricter gun laws. She advocated for guns to be locked in safes at home.

In her latest ad, Peltola says the Second Amendment is “To defend ourselves and our food from wild animals.”

Debate: Peltola promotes limits on First Amendment, and doubles down on more restrictions on Second Amendment

Alaskans own more guns than just about any population on the planet. Former Congressman Don Young was on the board of the NRA.

But now, Alaska’s only representative in Congress believes the constitutional protections for gun owners were designed for subsistence hunters like her family. Not for self defense, and not as the nation’s founders had intended — to protect the new federation of United States against outside enemies and invasion.

Peltola also says she will “stand up for the Second Amendment — whether it’s hunting, self-defense, or recreation — because Alaska just wouldn’t be Alaska without guns.” That’s a new spin for her, as she has seen the resistance growing to her anti-freedom stances.

Peltola pivoted in just a few short weeks from her earlier statements about guns being for hunters, and is painting over her record of pushing gun control legislation. In a public forum earlier this year, Peltola said that 18 year olds should not be able to purchase guns, and she supports universal registration.

In June, she was on the record with Alaska Public Media saying she supports “common sense gun legislation” that would be brought forward by a bipartisan committee. President Joe Biden is eager for such legislation and uses the exact wording “common sense legislation.” His federal approach includes forcing all gun owners to own gun safes and to keep guns locked away.

On Twitter in May, Peltola wrote: “We cannot continue doing things the way they’ve always been done. It’s killing us.”

Peltola is a Democrat running against Republican Nick Begich and Sarah Palin, as well as Libertarian Chris Bye. She won the temporary seat for Congress in August, after Republican voters refused to rank other Republicans on the ballot, thus handing the victory to Peltola.

Alaska is a conservative-leaning state, where President Donald Trump won by 53 percent in 2020. But Democrats are pouring tens of millions of dollars into the effort to convince Alaskans to vote for Peltola, in spite of her anti-constitution view.

Peltola: ‘Second Amendment rights are about food security’

On Second Amendment: Peltola, now representing Alaska in Congress, supports gun control, gets a ‘D’ from NRA

How much are taxpayers paying for youth transgender procedures? Federal policies under scrutiny

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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How much are taxpayers paying for youth transgender procedures? Federal policies under scrutiny

By CASEY HARPER | THE CENTER SQUARE

U.S. Health and Human Services’ transgender policies toward children are under scrutiny, the latest federal agency to face Congressional questions over how taxpayer dollars may be pushing the issue and even funding surgeries.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., ranking member on the Subcommittee on Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra raising concerns about the agency’s work to “promote life altering changes to young children.”

“I write to conduct oversight of the federal government’s use of taxpayer funds to promote radical gender ideology and the medical transition of children using pharmaceutical or surgical interventions,” the letter said. “The Biden Administration appears to be encouraging any child, who does not conform to perceptions of masculine or feminine stereotypes, to alter his or her body through potentially irreversible medical or surgical intervention. Instead of funding these life-altering drugs and procedures, our government should be promoting policies to protect vulnerable children – who cannot consent.”

HHS is the latest but not the only federal agency to come under scrutiny for its transgender policies toward children. As The Center Square previously reported, The U.S. State Department’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan also came under Congressional scrutiny for including taxpayer-funded “gender transition care” for employees as well as their children.

Mace said that other western nations have raised concerns about the transgender drugs and surgeries, but that the Biden administration has gone all in.

The letter explicitly requests information to what extent taxpayer dollars are being used to fund these drugs and surgeries.

“HHS, under the guise of ‘gender affirming care,’ now promotes medical interventions such as drugs designed to block puberty, opposite-sex hormones to transition children – both of which do not have FDA approval for use in children’s gender care – and even surgical interventions to remove or alter the gender specific anatomy,” the letter said. “HHS also falsely promotes some of these interventions as ‘reversible’ or ‘partially reversible’ despite potential, serious long-term physical and mental health risks, complications, and regret. The American medical institutions simply do not have enough data to understand outcomes. Children who suffer from mental health conditions are least likely to engage in sound decision making which is where parental control should intervene.

“It is imperative that the American people understand HHS’s role and the use of federal taxpayer money to promote a radical gender ideology that is harming children in our country,” the letter adds.

Casey Harper is a Senior Reporter for the Washington, D.C. Bureau. He previously worked for The Daily Caller, The Hill, and Sinclair Broadcast Group. A graduate of Hillsdale College, Casey’s work has also appeared in Fox News, Fox Business, and USA Today.

Ben Carpenter: A vote for constitutional convention is a vote for justice for all Alaskans

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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Ben Carpenter: A vote for constitutional convention is a vote for justice for all Alaskans

By REP. BEN CARPENTER

Alaskans have been asking for justice from our judicial system for a long time. Too many Alaskans see the law applied to protect those with money and power but not those without.

The simple truth is that Alaskans need a greater say in selecting judges to break the cycle of injustice in our communities. Improving our judiciary can only happen with a constitutional amendment that reforms Article 4, Section 8 of our State Constitution that empowers four Alaskans on the Judicial Council to choose a list of lawyers the governor must choose a judicial appointment from.

The issue of justice reform unites Alaskans from rural villages and urban centers alike. It also energizes out-of-state interests determined to protect the status quo, which is why there is so much dark money being spent on a “no” vote on a constitutional convention this year.

Alaskans have the authority to demand a constitutional amendment, but Alaskans only have the power to secure one through a constitutional convention.

Here’s why: A constitutional amendment is passed with a simple majority vote during a constitutional convention. The Legislature can also pass constitutional amendments but requires a two-thirds majority vote to do so. This super-majority vote is an impossible hurdle to overcome given the historic makeup of our legislature.

The drafters of our state constitution foresaw times like this when they included the provision for the people to decide once a decade whether to call a constitutional convention or not. The purpose of the convention is to bypass a dysfunctional legislature and enable Alaskans to create their own constitutional amendments.

For decades justice in our villages has been elusive for too many Native Alaskans. For decades Alaska businesses have been asking for an effective spending limit. For decades Alaskans have been asking for the Legislature to be relocated from Juneau, including a successful ballot initiative. For decades the Permanent Fund dividend program worked for Alaskans, but now it has been ruled unconstitutional by the judiciary and ignored by the Legislature. For decades our government has ignored Alaskans’ pleas for action and these important issues have continually been allowed to divide us.

If Alaskans want to stop being divided, ordinary Alaskans need to say “yes” to a constitutional convention and start working together to solve our problems.

A false choice is presented between no constitutional convention and instead, successfully solving our problems under the status quo. History proves that our government will not act to correct itself. The question isn’t can things get worse with a constitutional convention. Things have been worse for too long! The question is can things get better without a constitutional convention? Do you trust your government to correct itself?

The necessity of a constitutional convention is a matter of how serious we are about the rule of law. If we want justice, Alaskans must have the courage to exercise the constitutional authority the state’s framers included in our state constitution by voting “yes” for a Constitutional Convention.

If justice can’t be secured in a constitutional convention, we can’t preserve it in the Legislature.

The question isn’t “Will it get worse?” The question is “Will it get any better if we don’t?”

Ben Carpenter is a state representative for Seward, Moose Pass, Cooper Landing, Sterling, Funny River, Salamatof and Nikiski.

Ben Carpenter: Alaska’s grand jury system has been compromised by the judicial system that controls it

Desperation ticket: Walker homogenizes with Gara to try to beat Gov. Dunleavy, using the Walker-Mallott playbook of 2014, as Democrats give up again

Suzanne Downing
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26
Desperation ticket: Walker homogenizes with Gara to try to beat Gov. Dunleavy, using the Walker-Mallott playbook of 2014, as Democrats give up again

In recent months, the campaigns of no-party candidate Bill Walker and Democrat candidate Les Gara, both vying for liberal votes for governor, have looked more and more like the same campaign. The two are blending and are at this point nearly indistinguishable.

Each man has his own woman running mate. Heidi Drygas is wedded to the campaign of Walker, and Jessica Cook is the “political wife” of Les Gara.

Drygas and Cook are in their support roles this week advertising the campaigns jointly, in “rank the blue” style pitches in the final days leading up to the Nov. 8 election.

They want voters to vote their team first, and the other team second on the ranked-choice ballot. Both teams would be satisfied, they signal in their ads, if Dunleavy were to be replaced by either of Walker or Gara. The two campaigns have stopped criticizing each other in recent weeks, and are still just offering abortion and taxes in ads that are increasingly shrill.

To state the obvious: The Walker and Gara campaigns have combined; they are separate in name only. Walker has co-opted the Democrat ticket once again in a desperate act reminiscent of what Walker did in September of 2014, when he combined his campaign with Byron Mallott, the Democrat who was running for governor that year, and who had won the Democrat primary. Walker convinced Mallott that he could not win (Walker was going to serve as the spoiler), and his only option was to be No. 2, with a promise that Mallott could run the government, while Walker worked on the gasline.

It came to pass quickly that Mallott ditched his own lieutenant governor candidate, Hollis French, and Walker ditched his pick, Craig Fleener. Deals were hashed out to ensure that, should the new Walker-Mallott ticket win, both of the former lieutenant gubernatorial candidates would be taken care of.

Walker and Mallott went on to win with the help of a complicit mainstream media, fixated on a phony scandal cooked up by the Walker and Democrat operatives. And the rewards to the two men who bowed out? French would get a seat on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and Fleener would get the coveted job of director of the Governor’s Office in Washington, D.C. Both were plum patronage jobs.

Now, in 2022, another deal appears to be in the works — this time with Walker making a deal with the Democrats once again. Must Read Alaska has learned there are agreements between the two men, both of whom are lawyers familiar with how to negotiate.

Would a Gov. Gara make Walker the head of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation so he can work on his passion — building a gasline?

Would Walker, as governor, make Gara his attorney general?

Another curiosity of the new Walker-Gara shadow ticket is that in 2014, Mallot received 42,327 votes in the Democrat primary. That is almost exactly the number of votes Walker received in the 2022 August jungle primary: 42,943.

Gara, in the August, 2022 primary, edged out Walker by getting 43,511 votes. If their plan works and if their voters do as they are instructed by Walker-Gara, the result in the general election could technically give one of them enough to get to 50%+1, which is what is needed to win in the ranked-choice election.

Combined, they have a possible 86,459 votes in the general election, although the Democrats may be highly motivated to turn out this year to elect Mary Peltola to Congress, which would shift the calculus in favor of the Walker-Gara ticket.

Gov. Dunleavy did better than either of the lead challengers in the primary, with 76,248 votes; he had a more crowded field of conservatives on the primary ballot to contend with and some of those conservative voters who opted for other conservatives on the ballot will come his way in the general election.

Also in the general election, Dunleavy might expect to pick up some of Republican Charlie Pierce’s and even Republican Chris Kurka’s voters; Pierce took 12,439 votes and Kurka received 7,281 in the primary. That would be enough to secure a second term for Dunleavy, with a possible 96,000 votes in the first round of counting. That doesn’t even count where the Libertarians and Alaskan Independence Party voters put their marks on the ballot.

Modeling shows that Dunleavy has a 77% chance of winning reelection, which would be the first time in Alaska history since Gov. Jay Hammond that a Republican has secured a second term. But it doesn’t appear he can win 50+1 on the first round of counting. He’ll need those Charlie Pierce second votes.

According to analyst Logan Phillips, an Obama alum, at RacetotheWH.org, Walker has but a 31% chance of making it to the final round, while Gara has a 67.5% chance of making the final round.

Gara also has a better chance of winning than Walker, although slight; Gara has an 11.9% chance of winning and Walker has a 9.8% chance, according to the RacetotheWH analysis.

China, once Bill Walker’s gas line partner, is now focused on Alaska military bases and how to nuke them
Bill Walker tells voters to rank Democrat Les Gara second

Happiness index: Republicans are happier, more content than Democrats, according to latest national poll

Suzanne Downing
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31
Happiness index: Republicans are happier, more content than Democrats, according to latest national poll

The conservative voters are winning in the happiness department.

Every week, the polling company Morning Consult asks Americans whether they are happy, angry, tired, optimistic, scared, and a range of other emotions.

The results show that right now, at least, Republican-voting Americans are happier and more content than their Democrat friends, but Democrats are at least more optimistic than Republicans. Swing voters are the least happy, content, optimistic, or energized. The survey has a margin of error of 2 percentage points and is based on Oct. 20-21 surveying of 2,210 U.S. adults.

In general, the mood of the country has remained relatively stable since 2020, dipping only slightly.

Among the Baby Boom generation, those in their 60s and 70s, Democrats were more anxious and sad, but those identifying with either the Democrat or Republican Party said they were “tired” at about the same rate. Democrats were slightly more sad, anxious, and notably more scared in this generation. Swing voters in the Baby Boom generation were the most tired, and Republicans were the least sad and the least angry.

Morning Consult describes itself as a global decision intelligence company. It caters to business clients and occasionally surveys the public opinion about political leaders. Learn more at morningconsult.com.

Poll: Nationally, Republicans extend their lead in House, but Alaska could end up in the Democrat minority

Bob Griffin: Alaska Reads Act is up for the challenge shown by national reading assessment scores

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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Bob Griffin: Alaska Reads Act is up for the challenge shown by national reading assessment scores

By BOB GRIFFIN

The nation’s report card has been released. The National Assessment of Educational Progress was posted on Monday. Alaska has a lot of work to do. But we do have hope because of the Alaska Reads Act, sponsored by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, passed earlier this year.

In the 2022 NAEP test scores, Alaska’s results were disappointing. For low-income kids, Alaska scored dead last in 4th grade reading, about a year and a half behind the U.S. average and two and a half years behind Florida (top in the US) at age nine.

In 4th grade math low-income Alaska kids were 49th out of 51 — all states + DC. In 8th grade reading, Alaska was also dead last — about 1-1/2 years behind the U.S. average.

In 8th grade math, Alaska kids were 42nd — about two years below average. 

Many have blamed our low-income kids for our disappointing results. But for upper and middle-income kids in Alaska the news wasn’t much better. They were second to last in 4th grade reading, 48th in 4th grade math, 42nd in 8th grade reading, and 40th in 8th grade math.

For the folks who think the kids in South Anchorage are doing fine — they’re probably wrong. The 2022 NAEP test scores, white Alaska 4th graders were about 1/2 a school year behind the scores posted in the Miami-Dade Public Schools, where 93% of the kids are ethnic minorities, 66% qualify for free or reduced lunch and 60% come from homes that English is not the only language spoken.

The good news is that the Legislature passed the Alaska Reads Act. The Reads Act was closely modeled after reading bills passed in Florida and Mississippi several years ago.

 In 2022, Florida and Mississippi ranked first and second in the U.S. in NAEP low-income 4th grade reading, and third and fourth for upper and middle-income 4th grade reading. Yes, Mississippi, the poorest state in the nation, is a national leader in early childhood literacy, based on a law first passed in Florida and now also part of Alaska statute — thanks to the leadership of Gov. Dunleavy.

Bob Griffin is a senior education research fellow for Alaska Policy Forum and a member of its board of directors. A retired U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and former chair of the Budget Advisory Commission for the Municipality of Anchorage and the Anchorage School District, he is a board member of the Alaska State Board of Education and Early Childhood Development.

Anchorage School District manipulates data on school capacity, shrinking student population

Bob Griffin: Anchorage voters rejected Inlet View school proposal, and district has too much school property

Voter vs. God: Complaint dismissed over a campaign promise to ‘protect God-given constitutional rights’

Suzanne Downing
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76
Voter vs. God: Complaint dismissed over a campaign promise to ‘protect God-given constitutional rights’

People complain about the Legislature wasting time. Some of that time was wasted this month after an anonymous man in Rep. Sarah Vance’s district in the Kachemak Bay-Ninilchik-Kasilof area complained to the Legislative Ethics Committee that Vance said in campaign ads she will defend Alaskans’ “God-given constitutional rights.”

The campaign ad appeared on KBAY 93.3 FM. The complaint-filer said that Vance’s promise violates the U.S. “constitutional freedom from religion in the long-held separation of church and state in the 14th amendment.”

The committee dismissed the complaint on Friday with a terse comment:

“Significantly the complaint does not allege the use of any state resources by the Representative as part of or in the allegations,” Legislative Ethics Committee wrote. “The House Subcommittee finds that the specific allegations outlined in the complaint, if proven true, do not give rise to a violation of the Legislative Ethics Act AS 24.60. The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics has no jurisdiction regarding potential issues of constitutional violations. The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics has no jurisdiction regarding campaign activities except for the prohibition on the use of state resources in partisan or campaign activities under AS 24.60.030(a)(2) and (5). There was no allegation involving the use of state resources in the complaint.”

It’s a new form of campaigning via harassment without having to declare the effort to the Alaska Public Offices Committee: File an anonymous complaint in Legislative Ethics Committee for something the committee has no jurisdiction over, and tie up state resources and a candidate’s attention.

Vance, a Republican, is running for re-election to the Alaska House of Representatives to represent District 6, Kachemak Bay/Ninilchik/Kasilof. She is on the ballot in the general election on Nov. 8 after advancing from the Aug. 16 primary.  Also running are Louis Flora and Ginger Bryant, both liberals registered as nonpartisans.

Alex Gimarc: Matt Claman is sneaky, but smart, while Costello is smart and reasonable

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Alex Gimarc: Matt Claman is sneaky, but smart, while Costello is smart and reasonable

By ALEX GIMARC

Representative Matt Claman is running for State Senate.  He was redistricted into a new area with incumbent Republican Sen. Mia Costello.  Claman represented the Turnagain area, a part of town that has turned pretty blue in recent years. They like him a lot in that part of town.  

Claman is a smart Democrat. Sneaky, but smart. Up until the last week or so, he has concentrated on turning out his people from Turnagain.  Recently, his union supporters expanded that a bit, publicly going after Costello with a series of radio ads blasting away at her for being too extreme for West Anchorage. At the end of the ad, the unions behind it make the claim that Costello is out of step with what they calls West Anchorage values.

Given the claim, let’s examine some of what they call his West Anchorage values.

The same ad claims that Costello voted against police and fire pensions, cute verbiage, but ultimately misleading (perhaps another West Anchorage value).  Last legislature, union-supporting democrats pushed HB 55, a change in existing police and fire pensions from current defined contribution to defined benefit.  

In 2005, state pensions were changed to the defined contribution model for new employees because there simply wasn’t enough money in the budget to pay the defined benefit model. This change was made much to the distress of democrats and union members statewide.  They have tried for the last 17 years to change it back. The game appears to be to change police and fire first and then follow up in future years with similar changes to the other bargaining units. Note that for the record, we couldn’t afford those pensions in 2005.  And we can’t afford them today, unless Claman plans on using the PFD to pay the additional costs. 

Maybe that is another West Anchorage value.  

In pushing this, Claman’s supporters demonstrate at best, that he is an economic illiterate. Claman appears to be perfectly happy with blowing up the entire state budget to purchase a few more union votes. Worse, he is claiming that Costello’s accurate understanding of state economics translates into non-support for police and fire, something that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

April 2019, the Alaska Legislature sitting in joint session turned down Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s nomination of Karl Johnstone for Alaska Board of Fish.  Democrat Ivy Spohnholz blew up the meeting claiming a couple anonymous, last-minute sexual harassment complaints against Johnstone, who was vehemently opposed by commercial fishermen. Rather than send the nomination back to committee to investigate, this gave the majority the excuse to defeat the nomination. 

Claman voted to defeat the nomination. He could have asked for it sent back to committee if for no other reason than to get all the liars in the same room at the same time. Instead, he chose to support what was ultimately a last-minute political hit by a fellow Democrat, Rep. Ivy Spohnholz, as an opportunity to do political damage to Gov. Dunleavy.

In December of 2008, Claman had moved from Anchorage Assembly Chair into the Hill Building as temporary Mayor, replacing Mark Begich who was on his way to the U.S. Senate.  Once in office, Claman, who had approved every single one of Begich’s Muni budgets, was shocked, simply shocked to find a multi-million-dollar budget deficit.  Solution?  56-hour unpaid furlough for all Muni employees. If Claman had done his fiduciary duty (perhaps we are back to the economic illiterate observation), that budget shortfall doesn’t exist.  

None of these appear to be positive values for any part of town, much less West Anchorage. I am mystified at the notion of sending someone to the State Senate who willingly, gleefully, wants to blow up the state budget, uses a last-minute sexual harassment claim to defeat a nomination and embarrass a governor, and after years on the Anchorage Assembly approving Muni budgets suddenly discovers multi-million-dollar budget shortfalls at the last minute.  

But Claman is smooth, smart, presents well, and most importantly, lets his other fellow travelers do the crazy part in public while voting in lockstep with everything they are interested in. We will see if he gets away with it again.  I hope not, as we can’t afford it.  

Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and information technology professional.

Alex Gimarc: Peltola campaign ads aren’t about freedom, they are about abortion without limits

Pelosi husband emerges from surgery after hammer attack at San Francisco mansion

Suzanne Downing
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Pelosi husband emerges from surgery after hammer attack at San Francisco mansion

Early Friday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was attacked with a hammer at the couple’s San Francisco mansion. The speaker was in Washington, D.C., when at the intruder entered through the back door of the home in Pacific Heights, and yelled, “Where is Nancy?” according to news reports.

Paul Pelosi, age 82, called 911, hid in the bathroom, fought off the intruder, and after police arrived after 2:27 am on Friday, they found the man and Pelosi wrestling for control of the hammer. The man then attacked Pelosi in front of officers before they could intervene, according to William Scott, San Francisco chief of police.

“Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup and rendered medical aid,” Scott said.

“This was not a random act,” Scott said. “This was intentional.”

Latest reports indicate that the man was a friend of Paul Pelosi.

According to the call that was made to police dispatch: “RP (reporting person) stated there’s a male in the home and that he’s going to wait for his wife. RP stated that he doesn’t know who the male is but he advised that his name is David and that he is a friend.”

Pelosi underwent surgery after suffering from a skull fracture and other injuries to his arms.

The alleged assailant, 42-year-old David DePape, will be charged with attempted homicide, elder abuse, burglary, and other charges. DePape was in the hospital with injuries from the incident.

DePape moved from Powell River, British Columbia, Canada to Berkeley, Calif. 20 years ago and has been a nudist activist who made and sold hemp bracelets and had on-and-off drug problems, in addition to being taken in by political conspiracy theories from the far right. He was also a member of the Green Party in past years. Many who know him say he has become increasingly unhinged.

The daughter of DePape reported on a blog that her father is “consumed by darkness” and sexually abused her and her brothers while they were children.

Paul Pelosi has had a tough year. In August, Paul Pelosi pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving under the influence charges related to a May injury crash in Napa Valley, and was sentenced to five days in jail and three years of probation, along with a community service requirement. Pelosi served two days in jail and received good-behavior credit for another two days, and his eight-hour community service requirement was accepted in lieu of the remaining day.

Paul Pelosi founded a venture capital firm through which he and his wife have about $114 million. Some Americans consider the Pelosis to be an example of how corrupt Washington, D.C. has become, as Paul Pelosi makes investments in advance of legislation. Nancy Pelosi has become a hated icon due to her perceived corruption.

She is considered so corrupt, in fact, that a group of investors now follow what Paul Pelosi invests in and they make the same investments, reported NPR.

“Among a certain community of individual investors on TikTok, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s stock trading disclosures are a treasure trove. ‘Shouts out to Nancy Pelosi, the stock market’s biggest whale,’ said user ‘ceowatchlist.’ Another said, ‘I’ve come to the conclusion that Nancy Pelosi is a psychic,’ while adding that she is the ‘queen of investing.'” NPR continued.

“‘She knew,’ declared Chris Josephs, analyzing a particular trade in Pelosi’s financial disclosures. ‘And you would have known if you had followed her portfolio.'”

“Last year, Josephs noticed that the trades, actually made by Pelosi’s investor husband and merely disclosed by the speaker, were performing well. 

“Josephs is the co-founder of a company called Iris, which shows other people’s stock trades. In the past year and a half, he has been taking advantage of a law called the Stock Act, which requires lawmakers to disclose stock trades and those of their spouses within 45 days.

“Now on Josephs’ social investing platform, you can get a push notification every time Pelosi’s stock trading disclosures are released. He is personally investing when he sees which stocks are picked: ‘I’m at the point where if you can’t beat them, join them,’ Josephs told NPR, adding that if he sees trades on her disclosures, ‘I typically do buy… the next one she does, I’m going to buy.'” 

A Pelosi spokesperson told NPR that the speaker does not personally own any stocks and that the transactions are made by her husband. “The Speaker has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions,” the spokesperson told NPR.

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