Thread by @VaporAmerican

So let’s talk about prohibitionist Members of Congress who are also tobacco investors. First up, Rep. Ro Khanna. He’s a multi-millionaire, one of the richest in Congress, and he wants to strip away our right to switch from cigarettes to vaping. 🧵THREAD

But all that time, he has been systematically investing in major tobacco companies including Altria Group and Philip Morris. How do you think he got so rich! Here’s eight (8!) major investments he made just this year:

Khanna publicly promised not to invest in oil & gas or defense contractors because it offends his conscience. But with tobacco companies? Make it rain!
nofossilfuelmoney.org/congressional-…

Next up is ultra-vocal vape hater Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ). He too loves to parade his opposition to vaping as a smoking cessation method and his friends at CTFK arrange media events for him at schools so he can pose as a public health champion.

But back at the office on Capitol Hill, he and his stock broker are making big investments in tobacco companies like Altria Group. Here’s his most recent purchase:

This might seem obvious but let’s say it plainly: Tobacco stocks go up when MORE PEOPLE SMOKE CIGARETTES.
Right, Mr. Gottheimer?

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) is well aware and he eagerly supported the gargantuan vaping tax measure, which stripped out any tax increase on cigarettes.

He too is a multi-millionaire and his family fortune was built from the Phillips Distilling Company. They sell all kinds of flavored liquor including peach, honey, and “crackberry” whiskey:

Phillips is an investor in Philip Morris International and his family foundation invests millions in leading tobacco companies.
forward.com/news/408443/de…

Here’s his most recent stock purchase of Philip Morris:

Next is Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), a man so impervious to shame and hypocrisy that he chairs the Congressional Whiskey Caucus while fighting to deny fellow Americans the right to quit cigarettes by vaping.

Is Yarmuth a tobacco investor too? Oh hell yeah. Here’s his most recent acquisition of Altria stock for his portfolio:

The problem here is not just the staggering hypocrisy of these guys. It’s that they also have direct access to the highest levels of policymaking that will enhance their investments. Some might call that “insider trading.”

So when Yarmuth and his colleagues decide to tax vaping out of existence, what do you think happens to tobacco stocks? They go way UP..!

seekingalpha.com/article/446551…

But wait, isn’t that illegal? Yes, it is! But since that law was enacted, prohibiting Congresspeople from trading on inside knowledge, guess how many Members have been prosecuted? ZERO.

Here’s an article from just this week about dozens of Members violating that law. What was the average penalty they paid? $200. Yes — two. hundred. dollars.
businessinsider.com/congress-stock…

So happy holidays, Congressdudes. Enjoy your turkey and flavored liquor punch, secure in the knowledge that the SEC will probably never knock at your door. The rest of us will be struggling to keep our vape shops open and our customers off cigarettes.