Exclusive: Congressman Gutierrez Calls Out Carl Icahn For Possible Insider Trading Around Trump Tariffs
Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez demanded on Thursday that the Securities and Exchange Commission investigate “possible illegal insider trading” involving investor Carl Icahn. The billionaire sold $30 million worth of stock in an industrial company a week before President Trump announced potential tariffs on imported steel.
In a letter to SEC chairman Jay Clayton that was exclusively obtained by Cheddar, Rep. Gutierrez states Icahn’s decision to sell [shares in the Manitowoc Co.](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/377198-former-trump-adviser-icahn-denies-knowledge-of-tariffs-before-steel) so close to Trump’s announcement is “highly suspicious,” and the friendly relationship between Trump and Icahn “adds to the appearance of wrongdoing.”
“If this was a member of Congress that had done exactly the same thing...I’m sure there’d be an indictment,” the Democratic congressman told Cheddar in an exclusive interview Thursday.
Icahn formerly served as a special advisor to Trump. In late February, he sold $31.3 million of shares in Manitowoc at about $32 to $34 each. But because the company, which makes construction cranes, relies on steel for its products, its stock price plummeted almost 6 percent when President Trump announced last week that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports.
Shares of Manitowoc closed Wednesday at $28.16, about 11 percent lower than Icahn’s lowest selling price.
Trump formalized his decision on tariffs Thursday afternoon.
In a statement responding to the allegation, Icahn said he reduced his position in Manitowoc “for legitimate investment reasons having nothing to do with that announcement.”
Israel rolled tanks into northern Gaza for what the military called a targeted raid aiming to destroy Hamas infrastructure. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council failed to pass two separate resolutions proposed by the U.S. and Russia on humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza.
Republican Mike Johnson is the new speaker of the House, but the ally of Donald Trump inherits many of the same political problems that have tormented past GOP leaders.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday spoke out against retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. He also says he's redoubling his commitment to working on a two-state solution.
The U.N. warned on Wednesday that it is on the verge of running out of fuel in the Gaza Strip, forcing it to sharply curtail relief efforts in the territory blockaded and devastated by Israeli airstrikes since Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel more than two weeks ago.
The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial fined the former president $10,000 on Wednesday, saying Trump violated a limited gag order barring personal attacks on court staffers.
Republicans eagerly elected Rep. Mike Johnson as House speaker on Wednesday, elevating a deeply conservative but lesser-known leader to the seat of U.S. power and ending for now the political chaos in their majority.
With mail theft and postal carrier robberies up, law enforcement officials have made more than 600 arrests since May in a crackdown launched to address crime that includes carriers being accosted at gunpoint for their antiquated universal keys, the Postal Service announced Wednesday.
