A Trust for Ro Khanna’s Wife Sold Nvidia Shares Near Their Peak, but His Office Says He Didn’t Direct the Trades
A trust for the wife of Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., sold Nvidia shares near their peak weeks before a spy scandal sank the stock, but his office says he did not direct the trades.
Periodic transaction reports filed with the House Clerk list two sales of Nvidia common stock in the Ritu Ahuja 1994 Trust, which is entered under Khanna’s spouse, Ritu Ahuja.
The Sept. 4 sale, in a report received by the clerk on Oct. 7, was marked as a partial transaction in the $1,001-to-$15,000 range. The Oct. 7 sale, in a report received Nov. 5, was a partial sale in the same range.
House disclosures report value ranges, not exact amounts.
The October sale came a day after Nvidia closed at a record $239.24, the company’s investor site shows. Shares closed Thursday at $166.19, about 30% below that high.
Jensen Huang resigned Thursday as Nvidia’s chief executive, president and a director, the company’s board said, days after he admitted an affair with a woman U.S. officials suspect of spying for China.
The New York Times first published the intelligence allegations on Oct. 29, 22 days after the second sale.
His Office Says He Had ‘Zero Knowledge’
A spokesperson for Khanna, in comments published by the New York Post, said the trades had nothing to do with inside information.
“Neither Rep. Khanna nor anyone on his staff received any briefing on Megaspeed, Jensen, or any counterintelligence risks tied to Nvidia,” the spokesperson said.
“He had zero knowledge of this incident until the New York Times report. Khanna does not trade stocks and provided zero direction or input into any trades.”
Khanna, who represents California’s 17th District, serves on the House select committee that examines competition with China and has long pushed a ban on lawmakers trading individual stocks.
He has said the household’s investments sit in a trust his in-laws established before his marriage, managed by an independent trustee. “Neither my wife nor I direct a trade,” he wrote in July, the New York Post reported.
The same November report lists sales of many other holdings on Oct. 7, including Walmart, Adobe and Boston Scientific.
A $1,001-to-$15,000 Nvidia purchase on Sept. 23 appears in an account listed for a dependent child, according to the October report filed with the House Clerk.
The filings document the sales. They do not show that Khanna directed them or had advance knowledge of the allegations against Huang, and no public evidence has been offered that the trades broke the law.
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