Jesse Watters: Where's the money coming from?
Jesse Watters highlights how Pelosi got so rich off of a government salary
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has served in Congress for nearly 34 years and presently presides in a top-tier position as one of the most powerful figures in the U.S. government. Amid a recent flurry of complicated decisions she's had to face as leader of her caucus, Fox News host Jesse Watters launched a "Watters' World" investigation into her financial dealings during her tenure in politics.
Last week, the Speaker was unable to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill as progressives in her own party signaled their disapproval. Watters condemned her policies, saying they're making it "harder and harder for average Americans to accumulate wealth," shackling them with taxes and "destroying the dollar with reckless spending."
The current salary of a Speaker of the House sits in the low six-figures, yet Pelosi is one of the richest members of Congress.
So what is her secret, asked Watters: "It appears to be her husband, Paul."
"After they got married, Paul opened up a real estate and venture capital firm. And through his connections, he pushed Nancy into the political world, helping her get elected to Congress in 1987," Watters said.
"The couple has timed the market perfectly over the years," he continued, "while Nancy's been a Washington insider. Real estate, stocks, the Pelosis always know what the right investment is."
The Pelosis own several pieces of real estate including a mansion in Napa Valley valued up to $25 million, a DC waterfront condo worth over $2 million, and a red brick mansion in California's Pacific Heights.
Her husband owns commercial properties in San Francisco "combined, worth up to $50 million," Watters continued.
In this Sept. 8, 2021 photo, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meets with reporters to discuss President Joe Biden's domestic agenda at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
"In 2018, the Pelosis' wealth has skyrocketed," he said. "That year, her financial disclosure report revealed a net worth of over $114 million. In 2019, Pelosi's assets total up to a whopping $271 million and in 2020, those numbers went up even more to as high as $315 million."
"In 2007, Visa worried the new Democrat Congress would target their swipe fees, costing them billions. So they hired a team of lobbyists who descended on Pelosi," Watters added. "Visa's CEO personally met with her. She got donations from them. One of his advisers left and became a visa lobbyist himself."
"Suddenly, Paul Pelosi got a phone call from his broker. He was in luck," Watters continued. "Paul was offered a prescreened invite to get in early on Visa's $18 billion IPO. Did Nancy and her husband hesitate? No, they bought between $1 million and $5 million worth of Visa stock. But it gets better. While Pelosi was speaker, bills that would have hurt Visa's stock price were blocked in the House. Visa shares going up over 200 percent during the time, making the Pelosis a fortune on paper."
"In January, the Pelosis got a million dollars worth of Tesla stock right before Joe Biden announced electric car incentives in June. The Pelosi family cashed in big time just before Congress was set to pounce on Big Tech. Mr. Pelosi exercised options on Google's parent company, Alphabet, making an easy $5.3 million."
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Watters provided another instance where the Pelosis cashed in.
"In March, Paul Pelosi exercised $2 million worth of Microsoft options, just two weeks before the tech giant got a $22 billion contract to equip the US Army with high tech headsets," he said.
"The Pelosis have never been indicted for insider trading, but her marriage investments and access, combined with extremely fortunate timing, have created a lot of suspicions. All we're doing is following the money, and there sure is a lot of it," Watters concluded.