Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer was accused of fraud over a scheme involving trading stock in Microsoft, the now-Artificial Intelligence-focused technology and software giant founded by billionaire donor to leftist causes Bill Gates. According to reports on the alleged scandal that have emerged, he traded shares in the stock for huge profit after getting donations from a Microsoft-related political action committee.
As background, Congressional stock trading has risen to the fore as an avenue of alleged corruption in the wake of public information on the mind-boggling returns made by notorious congressional stock traders, such as former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and notorious RINO Rep. Dan Crenshaw, both of whom have at times defended the practice. Many on the right and left allege that the stock-trading members of Congress are using insider information to trade profitably.
The Wall Street Apes X account, known for its focus on Swamp corruption scandals and similar matters, drew attention to the matter in a post on March 6. In the post, which appears based on information originally from the summer of 2024 and has not received a community note and has gotten over 130,000 impressions, the account accused him of massive levels of corruption.
Beginning, the Wall Street Apes post on his trades and subsequent profits said, “This corruption is INSANE 
” It then claimed, “Democrat Rep Josh Gottheimer took PAC donations from Microsoft RIGHT BEFORE buying Microsoft Stock, after he did the stock SKYROCKETED making him millions.” That original trade was declared by the representative in the summer of 2024.
Continuing, the account noted one of the New Jersey representative’s other ties to Microsoft, saying, “It gets worse: He served as the general manager of advertising and strategy at Microsoft prior to becoming a member of Congress.” The account then claimed, “Guess what, he just invested $20 MILLION more into Microsoft Stock.” For reference, he disclosed “up to $20 million in Microsoft call options,” not a direct purchase of $20 million in Microsoft stock.
Building on that, the account noted Rep. Gottheimer’s “Red Flags,” saying, “Here’s the Red Flags – He served as the general manager of advertising and strategy at Microsoft prior to becoming a member of Congress – If anybody knows the company’s potential, it’s him. This is already pretty damning evidence that he may still have some connections within Microsoft – After going through Josh Gottheimer stock trades, His most traded asset is Microsoft stock with 113 trades made.”
Continuing, it said, adding further connections to Microsoft, the account said, “- The majority of his trades on Microsoft actually ended up netting him solid returns, like when he purchased $2.5 million dollars worth of it on January 6th, 2023, and the stock immediately surged 63% the following year – 2 unusual corporate PAC donations before he took that trade from none other than Microsoft Corporation.”
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Commenters on the post also accused the representative of corruption. One, for example, demanded AG Pam Bondi investigate this matter and others, saying, “No surprise here. Yet another corrupt politician (sri for being redundant) from the state that invented the political grift. While DOGE is shining a light on all the corruption, until someone is actually arrested, prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned, there is no justice. Talk is cheap. Get to work Bondi. Tick-Tock.”
Another commenter accused large companies of buying influence in Congress, saying, “This isn’t just corruption — this is corporate colonization of Congress, and Josh Gottheimer is the perfect case study in how the system really works. Microsoft didn’t just donate — they installed one of their own into government, where he could pass laws, trade stock, and make sure the “right” regulations never saw the light of day. But here’s the kicker — if this is what’s happening in broad daylight, how deep does the pipeline run between Big Tech and DC behind closed doors? At what point do we stop calling it “public service” and start calling it exactly what it is — legalized looting?”
The Capitol Trades market-watching site also reported, back in January of 2025, that Rep. Gottheimer’s trades had led to some raised eyebrows, as he had, in its words, “intimate” connections with Microsoft before being elected to Congress and had Microsoft options worth, at the time the article was written, a whopping $40 million.
Watch Sens. Hawley and Ossoff comment on reforming Congressional stock trading below:
Featured image credit: By MDGovpics – https://www.flickr.com/photos/64018555@N03/51135085450/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=122912103