Sen. Alan Armstrong Violated STOCK Act With 700 Tardy Stock Disclosures ⁠46%

By Dave Levinthal⁠71%

7/27/2026, 4:00:00 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 22 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Hasty Generalization, and Bandwagon, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 30.4% saturation with 255 hits. Analysis detected 1,387 faulty-reasoning hits from 840 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 42.8% and a BS Rank of ⁠46% (13,814 of 25,364 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 54.50% of the article peer group.

One of the Senate’s newest members was months late disclosing 700 personal stock trades that together are worth millions of dollars, according to a NOTUS review of new congressional financial records . 
Sen. 
Alan Armstrong , R-Oklahoma, who entered the Senate on March 24 after Markwayne Mullin vacated his seat to become homeland security secretary, made a flurry of stock purchases and sales in the several days after his swearing in. 
But the senator, a wealthy businessman who served as CEO of the oil and gas company Williams Companies until 2025 and as executive chairman thereafter , didn’t publicly disclose his financial moves until this week — more than two months past a 45-day deadline mandated by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act. 
Together, Armstrong’s improperly disclosed stock trades are worth between $3.24 million and $16.05 million, a NOTUS analysis of the new financial records indicates. 
(Federal lawmakers are only required to disclose their trades in broad ranges.) 
Armstrong finally disclosed them this week when the House, in a 232-198 vote, passed the Republican-sponsored Stop Insider Trading Act , which aims to ban members of Congress from purchasing individual stocks at all. 
But it faces an uncertain path through the Senate despite President Donald Trump’s stated support for the legislation. 
Armstrong’s most valuable stock purchases in late March include at least $250,000 worth of Apple shares and at least $50,000 each of Alphabet, Berkshire Hathaway and NVIDIA shares, according to congressional financial records . 
He also purchased at least $15,000 worth of stock in each of 70 other companies the week he entered Congress, including federal defense contractors BAE Systems, GE Aerospace, Palantir and RTX. 
He reported several hundred other stock purchases valued between $1,001 and $15,000 each during the week after becoming a senator. 
The senator was also late to disclose dozens of individual stock sales, including revealing that he sold $100,000 worth of shares in the glassmaker Corning — a major government contractor — and at least $50,000 each in companies such as FedEx, Home Depot, oil company Phillips 66 and drugmaker Pfizer. 
Armstrong this week disclosed only two stock trades within the STOCK Act’s required disclosure window: a June 24 sale of between $5 million and $25 million worth of Williams Companies stock and a June 22 sale of at least $250,000 worth of Williams Companies stock options. 
Congress passed the bipartisan STOCK Act in 2012 to defend against insider trading, curb lawmaker conflicts of interest and enhance public transparency. 
Then-President Barack Obama signed it into law. 
Christine Harbin, an Armstrong spokesperson, acknowledged but did not respond to several questions about the senator’s stock trades, including why he disclosed them after a federal deadline, whether he paid a standard $200 fine for late disclosures and if he’s contacted the Senate Ethics Committee to discuss the matter. 
The Senate Ethics Committee, which acknowledged but did not respond to questions about Armstrong’s stock trades, polices STOCK Act-related matters in Congress’ upper chamber. 
Asked whether Armstrong’s stock purchases pose a conflict of interest with his public service, Harbin said in an email: “There is no conflict of interest in Senator Armstrong’s intense focus on permitting reform and his long term holding in The Williams Companies stock. 
In fact, Senator Armstrong sold a significant amount of Williams stock since he was appointed to the position as the referenced filing shows.” 
A brief, unsigned note appended to Armstrong’s disclosure document states: “Transactions executed in March 2026 were initiated by a third party advisor to implement a direct indexing strategy.” 
Armstrong is barred by Oklahoma law from seeking a Senate term of his own and is slated to leave the Senate in January when a new Congress is seated. 
He nevertheless joins an ever-growing roster of federal lawmakers who have violated the STOCK Act’s disclosure provisions during the past year, with Reps. 
Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Laurel Lee (R-Florida) also improperly disclosing stock and stock-option trades this week. 
Others include Sens. 
Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) and Mullin , whom Armstrong replaced. 
In the House, STOCK Act violators include Reps. 
Linda Sánchez (D-California), Julia Letlow (R-Louisiana), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Lisa McClain (R-Michigan), Pat Ryan (D-New York), Sheri Biggs (R-South Carolina), Donald Norcross (D-New Jersey), Tim Walberg (R-Michigan), Rich McCormick (R-Georgia), Ritchie Torres (D-New York), Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Dan Meuser (R-Pennsylvania), Jonathan Jackson (D-Illinois), George Whitesides (D-California), Val Hoyle (D-Oregon), Austin Scott (R-Georgia), Shri Thanedar (D-Michigan), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida), Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), Kelly Morrison (D-Minnesota), Christian Menefee (D-Texas), Daniel Webster (R-Florida), Ed Case (D-Hawaii) and Scott Franklin (R-Florida). 
Rep. 
Kevin Hern (R-Oklahoma) was also late, although his office denies it. 
This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and Oklahoma Watch. 
Dave Levinthal is a NOTUS journalist covering the federal government for Oklahoma Watch. 
Contact him at davelevinthal@notus.org 
The post Sen. 
Alan Armstrong Violated STOCK Act With 700 Tardy Stock Disclosures appeared first on Oklahoma Watch . 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 2.2%Oklahoma Watch: 1.3%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 12.3%Dave Levinthal: 3.0%Oklahoma Watch: 1.5%Anchoring Bias12.3%This article: 9.4%Dave Levinthal: 2.7%Oklahoma Watch: 1.1%Availability Heuristic9.4%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.7%Oklahoma Watch: 0.3%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.0%Oklahoma Watch: 0.0%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 2.4%Dave Levinthal: 1.5%Oklahoma Watch: 0.4%Overconfidence Bias2.4%This article: 5.2%Dave Levinthal: 7.2%Oklahoma Watch: 2.7%Framing Effect5.2%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.6%Oklahoma Watch: 1.5%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.6%Oklahoma Watch: 0.7%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 2.7%Dave Levinthal: 0.2%Oklahoma Watch: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect2.7%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.3%Oklahoma Watch: 0.5%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.2%Oklahoma Watch: 1.2%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 30.4%Dave Levinthal: 14.1%Oklahoma Watch: 4.8%Negativity Bias30.4%This article: 5.1%Dave Levinthal: 4.1%Oklahoma Watch: 1.4%Self-Serving Bias5.1%This article: 8.7%Dave Levinthal: 1.2%Oklahoma Watch: 0.7%Fundamental Attribution Error8.7%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.3%Oklahoma Watch: 0.1%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.2%Oklahoma Watch: 0.5%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.2%Oklahoma Watch: 0.1%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 5.1%Dave Levinthal: 0.6%Oklahoma Watch: 0.4%Halo Effect5.1%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.0%Oklahoma Watch: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.0%Oklahoma Watch: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 2.9%Dave Levinthal: 1.0%Oklahoma Watch: 0.4%Recency Bias2.9%This article: 4.5%Dave Levinthal: 0.9%Oklahoma Watch: 0.2%Primacy Effect4.5%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.0%Oklahoma Watch: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.3%Oklahoma Watch: 0.3%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.0%Oklahoma Watch: 0.1%Straw Man0.0%This article: 2.6%Dave Levinthal: 4.6%Oklahoma Watch: 1.6%Appeal to Authority2.6%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.9%Oklahoma Watch: 0.9%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.4%Oklahoma Watch: 1.0%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.1%Oklahoma Watch: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 16.2%Dave Levinthal: 3.8%Oklahoma Watch: 1.9%Hasty Generalization16.2%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.4%Oklahoma Watch: 0.1%Red Herring0.0%This article: 14.6%Dave Levinthal: 3.2%Oklahoma Watch: 1.0%Bandwagon14.6%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 2.1%Oklahoma Watch: 2.1%Appeal to Emotion0.0%This article: 5.1%Dave Levinthal: 0.4%Oklahoma Watch: 0.3%Begging the Question5.1%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 2.0%Oklahoma Watch: 1.1%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 1.3%Dave Levinthal: 0.1%Oklahoma Watch: 0.0%Tu Quoque1.3%This article: 5.8%Dave Levinthal: 0.9%Oklahoma Watch: 0.4%Burden of Proof5.8%This article: 3.3%Dave Levinthal: 0.6%Oklahoma Watch: 0.2%Appeal to Nature3.3%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.2%Oklahoma Watch: 0.0%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.6%Oklahoma Watch: 1.4%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.0%Oklahoma Watch: 0.0%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 6.0%Dave Levinthal: 1.8%Oklahoma Watch: 0.9%Ambiguity (Equivocation)6.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.0%Oklahoma Watch: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.0%Oklahoma Watch: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.0%Oklahoma Watch: 0.0%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.0%Oklahoma Watch: 0.0%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.3%Oklahoma Watch: 0.0%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 3.3%Dave Levinthal: 1.4%Oklahoma Watch: 1.6%Unattributed Quote3.3%This article: 1.2%Dave Levinthal: 1.8%Oklahoma Watch: 0.2%Quote-first Misdirection1.2%This article: 16.9%Dave Levinthal: 5.1%Oklahoma Watch: 1.2%Biased Writer Voice16.9%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.5%Oklahoma Watch: 0.0%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.6%Oklahoma Watch: 0.0%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 0.5%Oklahoma Watch: 0.0%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Dave Levinthal: 4.0%Oklahoma Watch: 0.3%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

840 words analyzed.

Speakers

1speaker11%attributed speech748writer words
Selected voice

Christine Harbin

100%flagged-word coverage
92 attributed words100% of attributed speech84% writer coverage
0%27.5%55.0%Biased Writer Voice+40.8 ptsWriter: 12.4%Christine Harbin: 53.3%53.3%Unattributed Quote-3.7 ptsWriter: 3.7%Christine Harbin: 0.0%0.0%Quote-first Misdirection-1.3 ptsWriter: 1.3%Christine Harbin: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.