Online Public Relations Thoughts

 A New Jersey congressman who inveighed against profiting from the pandemic has been shown to have traded stocks that allowed him to do just that.  He says he didn't know it was happening because his broker completed the sales and purchases without his input.  That is an unlikely story and the congressman has been caught in an act of hypocrisy.  Whether or not his constituents care, his opponents in the upcoming election will make it a salient point for his defeat.  But, it didn't have to be that way.  He could have established a blind trust, which he is only doing now.  He could have remained silent about profiting from COVID, but he did neither of those two things.  Instead, he spoke out and put himself at risk, which is why he is now being pilloried.  He could apologize and disgorge the profits on his trades and shorts, but that is unlikely as well.  What he can't repair is the stain on his reputation.