John Rutherford failed to report pharma stock purchase on time

U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, a Jacksonville Republican, failed to report several stock transactions in a timely fashion. That includes a just-disclosed purchase of up to $15,000 in stock in pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb.

The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, better known as the STOCK Act, requires members of Congress to disclose stock actions within 45 days of the transaction.

The Congressman on Friday reported three significant stock transactions that qualify. Legistorm first reported The STOCK Act violation.

Rutherford made the Bristol Myes Squibb purchase on July 21, valued in the range of $1,000 to $15,000.

He also made a stock purchase in the same range for Comcast on Feb. 23, nearly nine months before he reported the transaction.

And on July 22, he purchased up to $15,000 worth of Brazilian development from Vale.

All of the purchases were made through IRAs with National Financial Services/Fidelity. That means Rutherford likely did not have an immediate hand in the transaction; members of Congress must report transactions within 30 days if they are aware of the trade.

He’s not the only Florida member of Congress to run afoul of the STOCK Act this year. U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Stuart Republican, missed the deadline to report up to $100,000 in stock in Virgin Galactic, a purchase that came weeks after Virgin Galactic President Mike Moses testified in front of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, on which Mast sits.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserrman Schultz, a Weston Democrat, was months late in reporting a purchase of up to $15,000 in Westell Technologies. One of her children purchased $45,000 in the same company the same day, something that was also supposed to be reported with more haste.

And U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor was tardy reporting a transaction worth as much as $45,000 in Berkshire Hathaway.

Lawmakers face penalties if they fail to report transactions in a timely fashion, usually about $200 per infraction if it isn’t waived by the House Ethics Committee.