House Dem Sam Liccardo probes suspicious oil trades during Iran war

Source: CNBC

House Dem Sam Liccardo probes suspicious oil trades during Iran war

Published Fri, Apr 17 2026 9:30 AM EDT
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Key Points
* Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-Calif., is asking whether the nation's top financial regulators are examining a number of trades placed moments before President Donald Trump provided a major update on the Iran war.
* In a new letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig, shared exclusively with CNBC, Liccardo said he wrote to "express alarm over recent reporting that indicates large trades were made on crude oil prices and S&P 500 E-mini Futures right before the President announced action, or lack thereof, in Iran."


Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-Calif., attends a news conference with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus during the House Democrats' 2025 Issues Conference at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia, March 13, 2025.
Tom Williams CQ-Roll Call, Inc. Getty Images

Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-Calif., is probing whether the nation's top financial regulators are examining a number of trades placed moments before President Donald Trump provided a major update on the Iran war.

In a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig being sent Friday and shared exclusively with CNBC, Liccardo said he wrote to "express alarm over recent reporting that indicates large trades were made on crude oil prices and S&P 500 E-mini Futures right before the President announced action, or lack thereof, in Iran."

"The timing indicates bets were placed by those with advance knowledge of the President's action, strongly suggesting illicit trading on insider information, in violation of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, and the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012," Liccardo wrote.

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Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/17/house-dem-probe-iran-war-trades-suspicious.html