Though I believe (or maybe it’s more “I hope”) it’s illegal now, back in 2008 insider trading did not apply to members of Congress and was very much OK, and insider trading is very much what this is—maybe not in the strict sense of company insiders trading on privileged information, but certainly an example of using his office for (not a small amount of) personal gain.
Ryan attended a closed meeting with congressional leaders, Bush’s Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on September 18, 2008. The purpose of the meeting was to disclose the coming economic meltdown and beg Congress to pass legislation to help collapsing banks. Instead of doing anything to help, Ryan left the meeting and on that very same day Paul Ryan sold shares of stock he owned in several troubled banks and reinvested the proceeds in Goldman Sachs, a bank that the meeting had disclosed was not in trouble.
