House Seeks Dismissal of SEC Lawsuit

The House has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed against it by the Securities and Exchange Commission concerning insider trading in insurance companies that occurred in 2013, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The trading is alleged to have occurred after Brian Sutter, staff director of the House Ways and Means Committee, leaked a change in Medicare reimbursement rates — confidential government information.

In June, the SEC sued the House Ways and Means Committee to enforce subpoenas for documents and testimony related to the information leak. The SEC is seeking testimony from Mr. Sutter concerning his conversations with lobbyists at the law firm of Greenberg, Traurig. It is alleged lobbyists from the law firm emailed a brokerage firm with information from "credible sources" confirming the Medicare reimbursement rate change.

Attorneys representing the House said they are ignoring the SEC requests for information and testimony, as they are lawfully allowed to do so. In support of their argument, the House attorneys cited the Constitution's speech or debate clause, which protects against any outside inquiry into "legislative acts" in Congress.

A federal judge will now rule on whether the case will proceed.

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