Senators fight controversy surrounding sale of stocks as coronavirus spread
by Jerry Dunleavy
| March 20, 2020 04:13 PM
A group of senators became embroiled in controversy over their sale of stocks after it was reported they made the maneuvers right before the stock market plunged while the country and the rest of the world grappled with the coronavirus crisis.
The lawmakers, who come from both the Republican Party and Democratic Party, are facing allegations of insider trading, spurred by reports, some of which appear to be unfounded, that some of them were receiving secret congressional briefings on the COVID-19 virus outbreak around the time they sold major holdings.
It all started with an NPR report Thursday featuring a recording of Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr during a luncheon, where the Republican warned about the growing threat. ProPublica then published a report about Burr’s February stock dumps, implying the sales flowed from daily intelligence community briefings he had been receiving about the COVID-19 virus.
Another senator, Georgia Republican Kelly Loeffler, got roped into the controversy when the Daily Beast published a report about her financial disclosures showing large stock sales, hinting these sales happened due to information gleaned from a Health Committee briefing the same day last month.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senators-fight-controversy-surrounding-stock-sales-as-coronavirus-spread
