Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) on Thursday handed out printed statements to Capitol Hill reporters who asked about his purchase—and subsequent sale—of stock in a major military contractor days after he lobbied President Donald Trump to dramatically scale up U.S. defense spending. The playing card-sized printouts reiterated a statement sent to The Daily Beast on Wednesday in response to a story reporting the senator’s purchase of between $50,000 and $100,000 in defense giant Raytheon. “When this came to my attention yesterday, I took immediate action to reverse the trade,” the printed statement reads in part. “I have directed my [financial] advisor to not trade on defense or aerospace stocks going forward.” Inhofe currently chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, and in that capacity pushed Trump to back a massive $750 billion Pentagon budget request for fiscal year 2020. Inhofe’s office told The Daily Beast that he quickly sold his Raytheon stake after the acquisition came to his attention on Wednesday.
Sen @JimInhofe is handing out these paper card statements when asked by reporters about this story about buying defense stocks after pushing for military spending (he spoke to us, as well): https://t.co/K5MRGF8vaHpic.twitter.com/unSJt4FmPs
