Well… add another name to the ever-growing list of “elite financial operators who f*cked around and absolutely, unequivocally found out.” Former Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler just blew up her own career with an ethics scandal so perfectly timed for Trump you almost wonder if the man manifested it.

And the timing couldn’t have been more convenient. Her abrupt August resignation (presented as a harmless “personal matter”) just so happened to open a Fed Board seat months earlier than expected. Donald Trump wasted zero time sliding one of his guys into the role. 

It was political musical chairs, except Kugler stood up before the music started, handed over her chair, and walked out like it was all perfectly normal. Except it wasn’t. Because she was under investigation the entire time.

(Source: CNBC)

Documents from the Office of Government Ethics show Kugler basically slipped out the side door while Fed lawyers were still flipping through her disclosures like, “What exactly are we supposed to certify here?” Turns out she (or “her husband,” according to Washington’s most overused excuse) had been making individual stock trades. Not innocent trades. Prohibited trades. Some during blackout periods… the exact windows when Fed officials are supposed to sit on their hands and pretend they don’t know when the next rate call is coming.

And not in boring, forgettable companies either. Apple, Caterpillar, Southwest Airlines, Cava Group… honestly, we’re lucky she didn’t try to snag some Nvidia mid-Powell press conference.

This is the kind of behavior that forces the Fed into two personalities. Publicly: “Trust and stability are essential.” Privately: “What’s the worst that could happen if we buy Cava two days before an FOMC meeting?” Spoiler: it went exactly how you think.

Right before the July meeting, Kugler realized her portfolio contained “impermissible holdings,” which is Fed-speak for “this is extremely bad, please fix immediately.” To clean it up, she needed Jerome Powell to approve a waiver. Powell (who has spent three years fighting inflation like it personally slashed his tires) took one look and delivered an immediate, emphatic no.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

After that, she skipped the July 29-30 FOMC meeting altogether and resigned eight days later. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to raise an eyebrow at that timeline.

The official statement said she left for a “personal matter.” The real explanation was the Inspector General scrolling through her filings like, “Ma’am… blackout periods aren’t optional.” The Ethics Office refused to certify her disclosure. The IG (Inspector General) launched an investigation. And all of it surfaced while she still had months left on her term.

What makes it extra chaotic is that this wasn’t her first time dancing with the rulebook. Last year, her husband allegedly executed trades without her knowledge, which violated Fed policy. They divested, she promised compliance, life went on. Then 2024 rolled in and she basically said, “What if we did it again?” Trump didn’t need more detail. He accepted the vacancy and installed Stephen Miran in an instant.

At this point, you have to pity the Fed’s ethics officer, who probably emails Powell every few months like: “So… we have another situation.” Between two regional presidents, a governor, and now Kugler, the blackout-period enforcement strategy is starting to look a lot like the honor system at a gas station bathroom.

Kugler is now back at Georgetown teaching public policy and economics, which is unintentionally hilarious. Imagine walking into class and seeing your professor writing “Ethics in Central Banking” on the board while the Inspector General is somewhere downtown connecting her trades on a whiteboard with red string.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in Apple as mentioned in the article.