U.S. Senate candidate and Congresswoman Julia Letlow is facing questions about her purchase of Meta stock after reportedly signing a confidential agreement related to the technology company’s plans to build a massive data center in Richland Parish.
A report by WWNO says Letlow purchased shares of Meta after signing a non-disclosure agreement related to the company’s proposed data center. LSU political science professor Robert Hogan says the report raises questions about whether elected officials can gain access to information that could potentially benefit them financially.
“This is a typical sort of thing that worries voters, at a time when there’s a great deal of skepticism in the American public about insider activities by politicians,” Hogan said.
The report comes after Letlow faced similar scrutiny during the Republican primary over her stock transactions. Political advertisements accused Letlow of violating federal law by failing to timely disclose more than 200 stock transactions worth millions of dollars.
Letlow denied any wrongdoing, saying a third-party broker conducted the trades without her knowledge or direction.
A representative for Letlow says she had no role in directing any of her trades, including the Meta transactions. The spokesperson also says the NDA played no role because Letlow was unaware the trades were taking place.
Letlow is considered the favorite to become Louisiana’s next U.S. senator. Hogan says he does not expect the latest report to significantly hurt her support among voters.
“Voters that she is going after are already pretty cynical. If you look at what the President has been doing, in terms of his use of his office, in order to enrich himself,” Hogan said.
Still, Hogan says the issue could resonate with voters who believe elected officials should be held to the same standards as everyone else.
He expects Letlow’s Democratic opponent, Jamie Davis, to make the issue part of the campaign.
“This might resonate with voters. But it will require, in this kind of campaign, the Democrats to bring it out and the Democrats to spend money here in Louisiana,” Hogan said.