US senator accused of cozy ties to Apple after leading charge against congressional stock trading

A US lawmaker who has long campaigned against congressional stock trading is among the nearly one-in-five in the Senate who own or likely own chunks of Apple stock – and watchdogs warn the conflicts of interest could derail major legislation aimed at reining in the Big Tech firm’s anticompetitive practices.

Sen. John Ossoff (D-Ga.) – who famously ripped his Republican opponent David Perdue as a “crook” over his personal stock trades during his successful bid for the Senate in 2020 – has portrayed himself as a champion of the movement to ban congressional stock trading.

The Georgia Democrat co-sponsors a bill that would ban members of Congress their spouses or children from trading stocks while in office and require them to place pre-existing assets into a blind trust – or divest them entirely.

However, Ossoff himself owned between $1 million and $5 million in Apple stock prior to setting up his own blind trust in early 2021 – and is likely still a shareholder, even while sitting on the Senate Judiciary Committee responsible for regulating the company.

The issue is getting a fresh spotlight as advocates push for Congressional leadership to reintroduce the Open App Markets Act and the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) – two long-stalled bipartisan bills would impose add new restrictions on how Apple and Google operate their controversial app stores.

Both bills advanced out of committee in 2022, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer never brought them up for a full floor vote.