Speaker Mike Johnson reports no bank accounts on his House disclosure forms

According to a report from The Daily Beast, newly elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has no assets. Or at least, no assets that he notes on his required annual financial disclosures. That means he has no savings account. No checking account. No retirement account. And neither does his wife.

Lawmakers are required to file an annual disclosure statement listing assets and liabilities. Rules were tightened by the STOCK Act in 2012, making it harder for members of Congress to hide their personal wealth. Yet Johnson has listed nothing for years.

There is a possibility that Johnson has so little money in any of his accounts that he doesn’t have to list them. There’s also the possibility that Johnson is using accounting tricks to dodge House Ethics Committee guidelines. And there’s the possibility that Johnson is simply not reporting where he keeps his money. All of this is a symptom of a simple fact: Johnson was an almost complete unknown before he strolled into the speakership during chaotic infighting within the Republican Party, and unlike most national figures, he has received little vetting from the national press.