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U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow signed a nondisclosure agreement with Laidley LLC, a Meta-related entity, on June 29, 2024, concerning the company’s planned $50 billion data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana Illuminator reports.
The agreement covered confidential information related to the project and restricted disclosure of the discussions. Within months, Letlow purchased shares of Meta and Nvidia, a company whose chips are used in Meta’s data centers. She later made additional Meta and Nvidia transactions, but the trades were not disclosed within the 45-day reporting period required under the STOCK Act.
Letlow’s spokesperson says she did not direct or know about the trades and that the NDA did not influence them. The timing of the NDA and subsequent stock transactions has raised questions from government ethics experts about whether Letlow had access to nonpublic information when the trades occurred and why such an agreement was necessary for a state economic development project.
Letlow also disclosed hundreds of previously unreported stock and bond transactions, including more than 200 that were reported after the STOCK Act’s 45-day deadline.
The circumstances have contributed to broader discussions about congressional stock trading, disclosure requirements, potential conflicts of interest and the use of confidentiality agreements between elected officials and private companies.
