Richard Burr insider trading scandal reveals
Before the Trump administration finally acknowledged the true threat posed by the coronavirus known as COVID-19 to America’s health and well-being and before the stock market began to crash at the end of February,
Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr and his wife sold as much as $1.7 million in stock last month ahead of the sharp market decline that's resulted from the novel coronavirus global pandemic, according to Senate documents.
In a single day on Feb. 13, he dumped his stock portfolio in 33 separate transactions, unloading close to $1.7 million of stock holdings in hotels and other industries, a little more than a week before those same stock values collapsed.
Burr's stock sales have come under fire after he sold them off just days before the market began a downturn as a result of the coronavirus outbreak shutting down businesses and travel in the US and across the world.
Burr said Friday that he did not base his sales on any information he received as chairman of the Intelligence Committee.
"I relied solely on public news reports to guide my decision regarding the sale of stocks on February 13," Burr said in a statement. "Specifically, I closely followed CNBC's daily health and science reporting out of its Asia bureaus at the time. Understanding the assumption many could make in hindsight however, I spoke this morning with the chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee and asked him to open a complete review of the matter with full transparency."
A week before his stock sell-off, Burr authored an op-ed with GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee titled, "Coronavirus prevention steps the U.S. government is taking to protect you" in which the senators wrote the US was "better prepared than ever before to face emerging public health threats, like the coronavirus." Burr has also worked on legislation aiding US preparations for pandemics for years.
There’s no indication that the stock sales made by Burr were made on the basis of any inside information Burr received or that they broke rules that prohibit senators from making money off insider information, but just before the stock sales, Barr co-wrote an editorial with fellow Republican senator, Lamar Alexander.
It was titled, “Coronavirus Prevention Steps The U.S. Government Is Taking To Protect You.”
But the stock sales are being scrutinized because the sell-off helped Burr avoid the fate many Americans are staring down as their investments are dwindling in the sinking markets. The sales are notable in particular because they represented a large share of Burr's stock portfolio, between 25% and 75%, based on his 2018 financial disclosure filing, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Congress passed the Stock Act in 2012 that made it illegal for lawmakers to use inside information for financial benefit. Burr was one of three senators to vote against the bill.
Source : Witn, Cnn, Theguardian