Sen. Rand Paul may have violated insider trading law by failing to disclose wife's COVID drug stock purchases

• A watchdog group says Sen. Rand Paul may have intentionally violated the STOCK Act, which combats insider trading.
• Paul's wife Kelley purchased stock in Gilead Sciences in February 2020.
• The Campaign Legal Center is asking the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate whether Paul intentionally violated the law.

The Campaign Legal Center has filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee targeting Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, alleging that the senator may have failed to comply with an insider trading law.

The Washington Post first reported on Thursday that the senator's wife, Kelley Paul, purchased between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of stock in Gilead Sciences, which manufactures the antiviral drug remdesivir, in February 2020.

Paul disclosed the purchases 16 months after a mandatory 45-day deadline under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, which is designed to combat insider trading by members of congress.

"This filing, coming over a year late and detailing the financial interest a senator held in a company producing an antiviral drug from the onset of a global pandemic, is a clear example of why greater STOCK Act enforcement is needed," said Kedric Payne, general counsel and senior director of ethics at Campaign Legal Center, in a press release.

The complaint also noted that Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina and former Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia made stock trades at roughly the same time. Both faced widespread public criticism and accusations of insider trading. Burr stepped down from his position chairing the Senate Intelligence Committee, while Loeffler lost re-election.

"Under these circumstances, there is probable cause to believe that Sen. Paul delayed filing his disclosure to avoid similar consequences," said the group's letter to Sens. Chris Coons and James Lankford, who co-chair the ethics committee.

Two days before Kelley Paul's purchase, an official at the World Health Organization, said the antiviral drug was "one drug right now that we think may have real efficacy."

A spokeswoman for the Kentucky senator told the Post that the failure to disclose was an oversight by Paul and that he'd sought the guidance of the Senate Ethics Committee in newly disclosing the purchases. But CLC argues that Sen. Paul's office should've known better.

"All members of Congress and their staff receive mandatory STOCK Act training-an improper transmission is not an exception under the law," said the press release.

"If elected officials are not held accountable for failing to promptly and properly disclose stock trades, this trend may continue and worsen, with members delaying disclosure and only facing a nominal fee as a consequence," the press release said.