Two Senators sold off millions of dollars in stock shortly before the coronavirus pandemic caused a global recession. So why didn't they tell us?
Remember when Martha Stewart went to prison? Insider trading is illegal for people in the private sector, so why would the rules be any different for lawmakers?
Meet Senators Kelly Loeffler and Richard Burr, two Republicans from Georgia and North Carolina respectively.
They are both being asked to explain their actions or step down.
Tucker Carlson Thursday called on Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., to resign if he can't explain why he sold millions in stock in mid-February before the market fell amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“He had inside information about what could happen to our country, which is now happening," Carlson said on his show "Tucker Carlson Tonight." Burr was reportedly briefed about the potentially devastating effects of the virus in the U.S. last month.
"But he didn’t warn the public,” Carlson said.
Carlson said Burr didn't even disavow a Fox News op-ed he co-wrote with Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., "just 10 days before, claiming that America was better prepared than ever before for coronavirus."
He said Burr instead "dumped his shares in hotel stocks so he wouldn’t lose money and then he stayed silent."
Carlson added if there’s an honest explanation for Burr’s actions, he should explain himself.
Tucker is right - and Burr isn't the only one. Kelly Loeffler has some explaining to do too.
The Senate’s newest member sold off seven figures’ worth of stock holdings in the days and weeks after a private, all-senators meeting on the novel coronavirus that subsequently hammered U.S. equities.
Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) reported the first sale of stock jointly owned by her and her husband on Jan. 24, the very day that her committee, the Senate Health Committee, hosted a private, all-senators briefing from administration officials, including the CDC director and Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on the coronavirus.
“Appreciate today’s briefing from the President’s top health officials on the novel coronavirus outbreak,” she tweeted about the briefing at the time.
That first transaction was a sale of stock in the company Resideo Technologies valued at between $50,001 and $100,000. The company’s stock price has fallen by more than half since then, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average overall has shed approximately 10,000 points, dropping about a third of its value.
Look, I'm a reasonable person. If Loeffler and Burr have a good excuse, let's hear it. Why were they selling off millions of dollars in stocks when the market was surging? They knew something we didn't know and rather than warn us about the coming international recession and global health crisis their first instinct was to protect their portfolios.
And guess what? They probably aren't the only politicians who cashed in when things looked bad. Who else knew and why did they call their stock broker instead of telling us?
We demand answers.