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- One of Trump's cabinet secretaries made an especially well-timed trade of Trump Media stock.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi sold off her millions of dollars in shares on April 2.
- That's the same day Trump announced new tariffs, sending the market reeling.
A key member of President Donald Trump's administration made an especially well-timed stock trade last month, according to a disclosure made public this week.
Attorney General Pam Bondi sold off her shares of Trump Media Stock on April 2 — the same day as Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, which sent stock prices plunging in the days afterward.
The exact value of Bondi's shares at the time are unknown, but they were worth more than $3.9 million in December, according to documents obtained by BI at the time.
The attorney general was required to divest from her shares in the company, which she earned through consulting work, within 90 days of her confirmation. Bondi likely did not profit significantly from the divestiture. Trump Media closed at $18.76 on April 2, while the stock was consistently trading for more than $30 per share in December.
But it was still well-timed — the stock price fell about 13% over the course of the following days, though it eventually bounced back after Trump announced a 90-day pause on "reciprocal" tariffs on April 9.
It's unclear whether Bondi had advance knowledge of Trump's tariff moves. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Democrats have repeatedly suggested that Trump engaged in market manipulation with his tariff moves, and that his allies may have known about it ahead of time.
No hard evidence of this has emerged, though Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia made a series of well-timed trades during the April dip.
Bondi's trades have already attracted Democratic scrutiny as well.
"We need an investigation into whether Attorney General Bondi engaged in insider trading," Democratic Rep. Greg Casar of Texas wrote on X on Thursday. "A culture of corruption has infected the Republican Party. Americans deserve answers."