WASHNNGTON — The U.S. transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, remains in the sights of Washington watchdogs for what they say smacks of insider trading. The former Wisconsin congressman has adamantly denied the suspicions. Duffy has been part of the Trump cabinet to run the federal transportation agency since January 2025. In April, two days before Trump announced sweeping tariffs hikes, Duffy sold hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock. The next day he sold $50,000 more. On the third day, when Trump announced the tariff hikes to the public, Wall Street panicked. The Dow Jones stock average plummeted 1,000 points. By then Duffy had cleared out of 34 stocks, including Shopify and John Deere. It’s not clear whether Duffy was privy to advance discussions about Trump tariff announcement. His critics, however, aaren’t letting go — even after a spokesperson responded to calls for an investigation that Duffy “had no input on the timing of the sales.” The spokesperson called the transactions “part of a retirement portfolio and “not managed directly by the Secretary.” The spokesperson also said that duffy “isn’t part of the administration’s decisions on tariff levels. “It didn’t ease the situation for Duffy that the spokesperson added: “The secretary strongly supports the President’s tariff policy.”
Soft on the white-collared
The U.S. Justice Department’s duties include investigating possibilities of insider trading that puts other investors at unfair disadvantages. Under Trump the DOJ has been soft on white-collar crime. Notably the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, who runs the Justice Department, unloaded between $1 million and $5 million in stock just before the market deflating with Trump’s first tariff hikes.
Duffy. Age 54. A 1994 marketing graduate of Saint Mary’s University in Winona. Holds 1999 degree from William Mitchell College of Law. A world champion speed climber and the 1994.
Duffy profile
Practiced law in his native Hayward, Wisconsin. Served five terms in Congress from Wisconsin’s Distirct WI-7. Father of nine. Gained attention in Congress for voting for a pay increase because his $1250,00 a was insufficient to pay his bills. By 2025 when Trump appointed him as U.S. transportation secretary, Duffy’s net worth was an estimated $5 million, mostly from a media career, consulting work, and lbbying. The media career began when he auditioned for the MTV program “The Real World” and told casters he was interested in “cute girls.” He landed the part. The New York Times called hm a “resident playboy.” He also has had media gigs as a sports announcer and later as a financial commentator on CNN and Fox News. In Congress his committee assignments included the House Committee on Financial Services.