Reports circulated on social media claiming that US House President Nancy Pelosi had bought $ 1.5 million in foreign oil supplies a day before the “closing of the US line (sic)”. There is no evidence of this transaction in Pelosi’s financial disclosure reports that she has to submit to the Government in terms of the Ethics Act. In addition, a Pelosi representative told Reuters that this claim was untrue.
‘GOOD PELOSI buys 1.5 million foreign oil supplies the day before the US line goes on strike. Still think it’s (sic) about people, ”say the reports (here, here, here).
The ‘American line’ probably refers to the Keystone XL pipeline, a long urgent project that would have transported 830,000 barrels a day of heavy oil sands rough from Canada, Alberta, to Nebraska (here).
US President Joe Biden canceled the project on his first day on January 21, 2021, referring to environmental and economic issues, as outlined in section 6 of a White House briefing.
Texas and several other U.S. states have sued Biden’s government over its decision to revoke a key permit for the Keystone XL pipeline (here).
The Keystone XL pipeline is an extension of the Keystone pipeline system that has been in operation since 2010. A map of both can be seen here.
The Financial Disclosure Reports section of the House of Representatives clerk’s website shows here that in 2021, Pelosi submitted two periodic transaction reports (PTRs): one on January 21 (visible here) and one on March 9 (visible here).
The two reports show that the husband of the speaker, Paul Pelosi (the owner is marked as ‘SP’, who stands here as ‘spouse’), bought shares and call options in the asset management firm AllianceBernstein (here), Apple, Tesla and Walt Disney Company. None of these companies are oil companies and none of the transactions took place on January 19, the day before Biden revoked a key permit for Keystone XL, as social media claims.
Under the Government Ethics Act, which is visible here, members of Congress must submit PTRs, in which they must buy, sell or exchange any shares, bonds, commodity futures or other securities (eg cryptocurrencies) report. , your spouse or your dependent child when the transaction amount is more than $ 1,000. ”
The law stipulates here that PTRs must be submitted 30 days or less from the date on which the submitter became aware of the transaction, but not later than 45 days after the transaction, and it is added that ‘extensions are not granted for PTRs will not be. ‘
As such, a PTR would have to be submitted for the alleged $ 1.5 million investment and for a transaction on January 19, the PTR would have to be submitted by March 5, but such a PTR was not submitted.
Reuters found no evidence of credible media reports supporting the allegation posted on social media.
Drew Hammill, who serves as deputy chief of staff at Pelosi, told Reuters in an email that the allegation in social media posts was “completely false.”
Reuters had earlier downplayed claims over the Keystone XL pipeline (here, here, here).
VERDICT
Untrue. Reuters found no evidence of such payment in Pelosi’s financial disclosure reports or in credible media reports. Pelosi’s representatives deny the claim.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.