Representative Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat helping shape his party’s artificial intelligence agenda, disclosed new purchases of AI-linked stocks months after voting for a ban on lawmakers and their families buying individual shares. On October 12, he bought between $1,001 and $15,000 of Benchmark Electronics stock, while a jointly owned Morgan Stanley account acquired up to $15,000 of Applied Materials shares on October 26 after three earlier purchases of Advanced Micro Devices. The five trades, valued between $5,005 and $75,000, put his investments in the spotlight as Democrats prepare to take control of Congress, although no wrongdoing has been established. His spokesman, Haraden Bottomley, said Gottheimer gave control of his investments to a third party with full investment discretion before taking office in 2017 and is awaiting congressional approval of a blind trust. The purchases contrast with Gottheimer’s July vote for the Stop Insider Trading Act, which passed the House but has not become law, and with his longstanding support for restrictions on congressional stock trading.
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