House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has a knack for cashing in at Congress.
Critics have speculated that Pelosi and her husband have regularly engaged in insider trading by using her insider knowledge for huge investment profits — while avoiding potential losses.
On Tuesday, Pelosi and her Democratic Party allies cashed in again.
This time Pelosi used the leaked Supreme Court draft, which likely indicated the court will overturn Roe v. Wade, to benefit her election campaign war chest.
While Democrats decried the draft, Pelosi suddenly had a clear fundraising message — and didn’t let the opportunity go to waste. The real possibility that abortion could be effectively outlawed in dozens of states in the coming months has animated their dejected base.
An immediate fundraising email from Pelosi read —
The only way to protect reproductive rights is to build on our Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and DEFEAT every last anti-choice Republican who made this happen.
I need a ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME response — 50,000 gifts in the next 24 hours — to put us in a position to win this fight and protect our fundamental rights. Are you with me? >>
She wasn’t alone. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s campaign cashed in quickly, too, and asked for donations to help “vulnerable Democratic Senators” that are up for reelection.
“We knew this day would come, but it still hurts,” Schumer’s fundraising email read.
Insiders say the fundraising move didn’t work as well as hoped — a bad sign for Democratic voter enthusiasm. The Democratic fundraising platform, ActBlue, drew approximately $10 million in donations on Tuesday.
By contrast, the platform took in $71 million in the 24 hours after former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death.
It's been about 24 hours since Politico released the draft opinion about Roe v Wade from SCOTUS.
In that time, Act Blue has processed over $10M in donations for liberal and progressive causes and candidates on their platform.
— Andrew Arenge (@MrArenge) May 4, 2022
The Supreme Court’s draft ruling, which the court emphasized was not final, would become the law of the land only after a formal announcement.
That announcement is expected in late June or early July.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article