California Democrats use Republican’s Boeing stock move as ammo to pursue vulnerable seat

Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) is facing attacks from Democrats over his up to $50,000 Boeing stock sale in August 2020, which he failed to disclose before the deadline.

In an attempt to strip voter support from the incumbent Republican, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a new ad highlighting several news reports that cited Garcia was being accused of insider trading. Garcia presides over a swing district labeled as a toss-up this November.

The sale came as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee was investigating Boeing’s handling of crashes involving its 737 Max airliner. Garcia sold the stock in August 2020, the investigation released its report in September, and then disclosed it after the November elections. Garcia never faced any repercussions though ethics groups filed complaints alleging he violated the STOCK Act, which requires members to disclose trades.

“Cash-it-in Congressman Mike Garcia chose to betray the trust of his constituents for inexcusable personal gain — withholding critical information about his self-serving conduct from California families — and we’re going to ensure that misconduct comes back to bite him this November,” DCCC spokesman Dan Gottlieb told Politico.

The House committee, which was led by Democrats, released a report in September 2020 blasting Boeing over “inconceivable and inexcusable” failures to report vulnerabilities in the 737 Max jet. Garcia’s campaign said the congressman didn’t know about the report until it was public and shared a statement that says none of the Republicans on the committee knew.

“This makes claims of insider trading an impossibility. In short, Rep. Garcia was not privy to any information that wasn’t public domain,” Liam Anderson, Garcia’s spokesman, told Politico.

The attack on Garcia comes as a bipartisan deal was reached in the Senate to ban stock trading for members of Congress and eventually their spouses and dependent children. The move has been widely supported by voters, but Congress has repeatedly failed in their efforts to pass a ban.

Garcia is running for his third term in the House this November against George Whitesides, the former CEO of Virgin Galactic and a former Obama administration official. According to polling shared with the Washington Examiner from Whitesides’s campaign, he’s ahead 47% to 44% in the district.

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The swing district, located in most of northern Los Angeles County, is critical for Republicans to maintain in order to keep their slim House majority.

Boeing has come under increased fire from the public throughout 2024 and has been charged with fraud in connection to crashes off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia.