Even if legal, politicians profiting off inside information amid coronavirus crisis is outrageous

[mystery-ak]

 Even if legal, politicians profiting off inside information amid coronavirus crisis is outrageous

By David Marcus

March 20, 2020 | 8:20pm

As the novel coronavirus works it way through the United States, many Americans have seen their savings dwindle as the stock market continues its unprecedented free fall.

But for a handful US senators, the crisis was cause for a windfall. That’s because Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler, both of whom were briefed for weeks as the coronavirus approached America, decided it was a good idea to use their inside information to dump over a million dollar in stocks. Sens. Diane Feinstein and Jim Inhofe also sold significant amounts of stock.

To make matters worse for Burr, at the same time that he was shedding doomed paper, he was assuring the American people that our nation was “better prepared than ever for coronavirus.” Oh? Really? So is that why Burr engaged in dozens of transactions to protect his own portfolio while his fellow citizens lost billions?

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https://nypost.com/2020/03/20/even-if-legal-politicians-profiting-off-inside-information-amid-coronavirus-crisis-is-outrageous/

[PeteS in CA]

Insider trading is illegal, period. If the accused Senators traded based on insider, i.e. non-public, information, it's illegal. And courts have made the definition of "non-public information" fairly clear. So, if any of them traded based on non-public information, legal consequences should ensue, just as would happen to me if I traded in my employer's stock based on non-public information about my company. On the other hand, if they traded based on information from brokers or company press releases or other public sources, then what they did was both legal and ethical.

This is not a vague or fuzzy matter.

[Idiot]

Insider trading is illegal, period. If the accused Senators traded based on insider, i.e. non-public, information, it's illegal. And courts have made the definition of "non-public information" fairly clear. So, if any of them traded based on non-public information, legal consequences should ensue, just as would happen to me if I traded in my employer's stock based on non-public information about my company. On the other hand, if they traded based on information from brokers or company press releases or other public sources, then what they did was both legal and ethical.

This is not a vague or fuzzy matter.

We all saw what was coming.  If you didn't protect your investments then....

[skeeter]

I want a COMPLETE list of congresspeople who traded after obtaining info the rest of us didn't have.

This should not be used to selectively target a few congress members based upon an unspoken political strategy.

BTW the WH press corps right now are coyly asking questions obviously hinting at similar charges in store for Trump.