Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi quietly sold his Palantir stock after NOTUS last month reported on the congressman’s investment in the company, which has massive ICE and military contracts.
The New York lawmaker held Palantir stock valued at between $27,500 and $91,600, NOTUS reported last month. The congressman’s office confirmed to NOTUS on Monday that Suozzi has sold the stock.
Suozzi first purchased the stock in 2023, according to personal financial disclosure forms filed with Congress. He had continued to own the stock ever since. Palantir’s share price has soared in value from single digits three years ago to more than $146 per share today.
In addition to ICE contracts, Palantir is a major defense contractor, as well, having landed a $10 billion software and data contract last year with the U.S. Army.
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His office did not immediately respond to follow-up questions from NOTUS about when he made the sale and when he plans to file updated documents with Congress disclosing the sale. Under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, members of Congress are required to disclose personal stock trades no later than 45 days after they’re made, and sometimes sooner.
Ethics experts questioned Suozzi’s decision to vote to fund the Department of Homeland Security while holding stock in Palantir, NOTUS reported last month. The funding bill that Suozzi voted to advance alongside some Democrats and most House Republicans eventually failed in the Senate, and the department is in an ongoing shutdown.
Suozzi said in a statement after the vote and subsequent criticism that he took “responsibility” for his decision.
“I have long been critical of ICE’s unlawful behavior and I must do a better job demonstrating that,” the statement said.
Palantir has proven to be a popular stock holding for several federal lawmakers — both Democrats and Republicans.
But some have previously dumped individual stocks after coming under fire for potential conflicts of interest or for violating stock trading laws.
Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York directed his former financial adviser to sell dozens of individual stocks after reporting by NOTUS last year that he violated disclosure requirements. And Texas Rep. Julie Johnson sold the bulk of her individual stocks last year to “avoid any potential conflicts of interest,” NOTUS reported.
Congress is currently debating whether to ban lawmakers and their families from buying and selling individual stocks, with a Republican-backed bill dubbed the Stop Insider Trading Act advancing out of a House committee in January.
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