Sunday, March 22, 2020

GOP Senators Dump Stocks After Private Briefings on Coronavirus

Republican senator Richard Burr dumped a load of stock while he was being briefed on the threat of coronavirus but before the markets tanked, disclosure records have revealed.

North Carolina senator, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was directly briefed on coronavirus and then sold up to $1.7million in stock including in hotels, according to records seen by The Daily BeastNew York Times and ProPublica

Senators Kelly Loeffler or Georgia also sold off personal investments after private briefings in Congress, but she later claimed her investments were in a blind trust, and that she exercised no control over the investment decisions.  Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma also engaged in investment sell-offs after private briefings, but he has not yet commented publicly on the circumstances surrounding his investments.

Despite Senator Loeffler's denials over her personal investments, there are now reports that her husband (CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange) sold $3.5 million of his own stock after she had the secret briefing before the coronavirus market crash.  Jeffrey Sprecher offloaded the shares in his own company before they plunged by nearly 25%.   Sprecher also sold another $15.3 million worth of ICE shares on March 11.

The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act prohibits members of Congress from insider trading based on classified  information they have received in briefings.



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