Congressman Pat Harrigan@RepPatHarrigan
I’ve seen a lot of takes on this, and frankly, some of them miss the mark.
I’m concerned about the moral and legal arguments being made on X, I’ve served in Special Operations. I’ve built a business. And in Congress, I’ve refused to trade stocks because I believe integrity actually matters. So I’m going to say this plainly in hopes it is helpful for some to achieve moral clarity.
There are two separate issues:
1. What this Special Operator allegedly did.
2. Whether elites and insiders are held to the same standard as everyone else.
Let’s talk about what the Special Operator allegedly did. In short, he made a straight line from Top Secret, compartmented, classified information, to profit. While on the surface this certainly fits the definition of trading on insider information, there is something far more concerning here.
Polymarket bets are not sophisticated, we’re not talking trading oil futures, short-dated call options, or leveraged ETFs, they are utterly simplistic, and absolutely public. An outsized bet with longshot odds threw up a star-cluster to authorities. That same star-cluster is both identified, monitored, and potentially, reacted to by our adversaries. By allegedly placing this bet, this Special Operator endangered his brothers in arms, period. I find that morally reprehensible. How could you EVER trust this guy and trust is everything in Special Operations.
To build the company that allowed my family to realize our version of the American dream, which I started while on active duty, I didn’t leverage classified information to do it. I certainly didn’t put any of my brothers at risk for my personal gain, and never would have considered doing so. I didn’t serve in Special Operations for the money, I did it out of duty. And I didn’t start my company to make money, I started it to solve people’s problems. This guy, from the absolute safety of an operations center back at Ft. Bragg, selfishly tried to solve his own problems at the risk of everyone on black helicopters facing extreme risk over Venezuela that night. Blue Falcon.
In Congress, I have access to insider information. Do I trade on it? No. That Special Operator shouldn’t have either.
Now the second issue: accountability. Americans are right to be angry about double standards. They see powerful people profit, evade consequences, and play by different rules. That cynicism is real, and the double standard is a danger to the future of our country.
But corruption elsewhere is not a defense for corruption here. The answer to selective accountability is not zero accountability. It is equal accountability. If we excuse wrongdoing whenever someone else got away with it, we stop being a nation of laws and become a nation of excuses and pardons.
Hold everyone accountable. Equally. No exceptions.