Democratic and Republican leaders are calling for the immediate resignation of 2 Republican Senators who were caught in an insider trading scheme that allowed them to profit off of the current coronavirus global pandemic.
Top News Today
Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia each sold millions of dollars in stock based on inside information they received in advance of the wrath coronavirus was to wreak on our global economy.
The scheme was uncovered after Burr, who is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was secretly recorded warning dozens of GOP donors about the devastating impact the coronavirus would have on the United States. His crooked actions also came after he failed to warn the general public about what was coming and even wrote an op-ed piece saying the country was “better prepared than ever before” for the virus.
In the recording, Sen. Burr painted a much different picture for his club luncheon attendees than he, most federal government officials, or even Donald Trump was providing the public at the time.
“There’s one thing that I can tell you about this,” Burr said. “It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history.” He added, “It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.”
Next, Burr warned his wealthy business leader friends that the US government expected a significant disruption to travel 13 days before the State Department informed the American people and 15 days before the Trump administration banned European travelers.
“Every company should be cognizant of the fact that you may have to alter your travel,” Burr advised. “You may have to look at your employees and judge whether the trip they’re making to Europe is essential or whether it can be done on video conference. Why risk it?”
The Intelligence Committee chairmen then gave an early heads up about the coming school closings, saying “There will be, I’m sure, times that communities, probably some in North Carolina, have a transmission rate where they say, let’s close schools for two weeks, everybody stay home.”
After informing his Republican “in crowd” of the coming tsunami, Burr then used the information he received as the top-ranking GOP committee chairman to unload $1.6 million in stock so as to avoid financial loss from the inevitable stock market crash. Sen. Loeffler also took heed to the secret information and not only sold off her risky stock but also purchased between $100,000 and $250,000 in shares of Citrix CTXS, a remote “work from home” software company. Interestingly, shares in Citrix have increased 8% this year and are up nearly 20% from just a year ago.
All of this came on the exact day Donald Trump was telling Americans that COVID-19 is “going to disappear. One day, It’s like a miracle. It will disappear.”
Ironically, Sen. Loeffler tweeted a warning only days prior that she deeply disliked anyone attempting to gain political points from the coronavirus pandemic.
.
Stop politicizing #coronavirus.
#COVID19 is a public health emergency, not an opportunity for political posturing. It is NOT a time to tear down an administration that is working tirelessly to keep America safe.Set your politics aside, & work together for the American people. pic.twitter.com/iZnp6gJihf
— Senator Kelly Loeffler (@SenatorLoeffler) March 6, 2020
What Burr and Loeffler did is tantamount to insider trading, since they both made financial moves in their own best interests based on inside information provided to them from a secret senate briefing. So, it’s no wonder that calls for them to both resign are coming from both sides of the aisle.
“As Intel chairman, [Sen. Burr] got private briefings about Coronavirus weeks ago,” Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “Burr knew how bad it would be. He told the truth to his wealthy donors while assuring the public that we were fine. THEN he sold off $1.6 million in stock before the fall. He needs to resign,” she added.
Even Fox News publicly berated Burr for his actions and called for his resignation.
“He didn’t give a prime-time address, he didn’t go on television to sound the alarm,” Fox host Tucker Carlson said. “Maybe there’s an honest explanation for what he did; if there is, he should share it with the rest of us immediately. Otherwise, he must resign from the Senate and face prosecution for insider trading.”
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and GOP Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma also unloaded stock just prior to the global lockdown and stock market tank, however, it appears their sales were not related to insider trading information.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling for an ethics probe into the pre-coronavirus stock sales in what he calls the “appearance” of a conflict of interest.
.
The Burr/Loeffler brouhaha comes amid news that GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Despite being a physician (and in a position to know better), Dr. Paul is coming under intense criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike after going for a dip in the Senate swimming pool then hanging around Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah while awaiting his coronavirus test results.
“I’ve never commented about a fellow Senator’s choices/actions. Never once. This, America, is absolutely irresponsible,” said Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. You cannot be near other people while waiting for coronavirus test results. It endangers others & likely increases the spread of the virus,” she added.
If that wasn’t enough, Sen. Paul’s father, former presidential candidate Ron Paul, wrote an op-ed piece only days before his son’s positive diagnosis calling the coronavirus a hoax.
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and GOP Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma also unloaded stock just prior to the global lockdown and stock market tank, however, it appears their sales were not related to insider trading information. […]- DJ.
No DJ. I don’t buy it. These two snakes are as insidious as the other two snakes.
And frankly, I won’t be a bit surprised to learn- when this crisis is over – that the list of serpents on Capitol Hill, who profited from insider-trading and/or other-related nefarious activities, is even longer.
I just wish they could be all be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and sentenced to real time in a real prison. I know it’s not likely to happen….but I can wish for it anyway.