Posted on 03/19/2020 2:37:14 PM PDT by TigerClaws
Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $582,029 and $1.56 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 in 29 separate transactions.
As the head of the intelligence committee, Burr, a North Carolina Republican, has access to the government’s most highly classified information about threats to America’s security. His committee was receiving daily coronavirus briefings around this time, according to a Reuters story.
A week after Burr’s sales, the stock market began a sharp decline and has lost about 30% since.
On Thursday, Burr came under fire after NPR obtained a secret recording from Feb. 27, in which the lawmaker gave a VIP group at an exclusive social club a much more dire preview of the economic impact of the coronavirus than what he had told the public.
“Senator Burr filed a financial disclosure form for personal transactions made several weeks before the U.S. and financial markets showed signs of volatility due to the growing coronavirus outbreak,” his spokesperson said. “As the situation continues to evolve daily, he has been deeply concerned by the steep and sudden toll this pandemic is taking on our economy.”
Burr is not a particularly wealthy member of the Senate: Roll Call estimated his net worth at $1.7 million in 2018, indicating that the February sales significantly shaped his financial fortunes and spared him from some of the pain that many Americans are now facing.
He was one of the authors of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, which shapes the nation’s response to public health threats like the coronavirus. Burr’s office did not respond to requests for comment about what sort of briefing materials, if any, on the coronavirus threat Burr may have seen as chair of the intelligence committee before his selling spree.
According to the NPR report, Burr told attendees of the luncheon held at the Capitol Hill Club: “There’s one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history ... It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.”
He warned that companies might have to curtail their employees’ travel, that schools could close and that the military might be mobilized to compensate for overwhelmed hospitals.
The luncheon was organized by the Tar Heel Circle, a club for businesses and organizations in North Carolina that are charged up to $10,000 for membership and are promised “interaction with top leaders and staff from Congress, the administration, and the private sector.”
Burr’s public comments had been considerably less dire. In a Feb. 7 op-ed that he co-authored with another senator, he assured the public that “the United States today is better prepared than ever before to face emerging public health threats, like the coronavirus.” He wrote, “No matter the outbreak or threat, Congress and the federal government have been vigilant in identifying gaps in its readiness efforts and improving its response capabilities.”
Read More
Burr was one of just three senators who in 2012 opposed the bill that explicitly barred lawmakers and their staff from using nonpublic information for trades and required regular disclosure of those trades. In opposing the bill, Burr argued at the time that insider trading laws already applied to members of Congress. President Barack Obama signed the bill, known as the STOCK Act, that year.
Stock transactions of lawmakers are reported in ranges. Burr’s Feb. 13 selling spree was his largest stock selling day of at least the past 14 months, according to a ProPublica review of Senate records. Unlike his typical disclosure reports, which are a mix of sales and purchases, all of the transactions were sales.
His biggest sales included companies that are among the most vulnerable to an economic slowdown. He dumped up to $150,000 worth of shares of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, a chain based in the United States that has lost two-thirds of its value. And he sold up to $100,000 of shares of Extended Stay America, an economy hospitality chain. Shares of that company are now worth less than half of what they did at the time Burr sold.
The assets come from accounts that are held by Burr, belong to his spouse or are jointly held.
Your reckon that all 535 Insider’s have sold their stocks!
“...the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr...”
___
Richard Burr may be the titular head of that committee but Mark Warner is the one that runs it.
‘
And he and Lindsey Graham have been shielding the Bidens from Investigation.
He’s allowed Mark Warner (VA) to run that Committee.
Assholes.
Unfortunately the bastards have made insider trading legal ONLY for themselves.
How else can you become an overnight millionarie from a middle class job?
I hate these people.
Imagine also how much different things could have been in the whole Russia collusion conspiracy if Senator Burr had been on the side of President Trump and not on the side of the attempted coup. The media will probably now mention often that he is a Republican without mentioning that he voted against President Trump in every important way during the attempted coup. I wish Burr could be dumped now.
Martha Stewart can give him the 411 on life on the inside.
I propose all US senators donate all post-january stock profits to the IRS or resign immediately.
just so we know they are not on the take.
otherwise, tar and feather, and run out of town.
ah yes, and burn DC to the ground.
> Richard Burr may be the titular head of that committee but Mark Warner is the one that runs it.
W T F
Peter Schweizer’s outstanding book “Secret Empires” explains how Congress passed legislation making it illegal for them to make investments based on insider trading. Then, in a later piece of legislation, they took it all back. Congress is so corrupt.
I've no use for him,,,and about 80% of Congress..
I don't know about the timing...I was getting stopped out about that time also.....Mid Feb...
https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=DOW
Good luck with that........
Are the others dumb enough to have tapes?????
Now I’m really pissed! This asshole has to go down for this!
Very generous. I am having a hard time thinking of one. Seriously. They are naturally scummy. They lie, cheat, steal to get elected and re-elected. They will dumb on anybody to get ahead.
All representatives and senators use inside information in order to enrich themselves/avoid financial disaster that the rest of us peons don’t have.
Does getting intelligence briefings constitute insider trading? How about watching Fox Business or reading Forbes? The question is quite relevant.
Burr has a big target painted on his chest, in hopes of replacing him with a Democrat. Pro Publica is a well known liberal investigative enterprise. The article is somewhat vague, even the bit about a "secret" recording. Until I see some evidence that he actually violated a law, I will put this down as a Democrat hit piece.
That would be the most effective way to get self-imposed term limits, on all of CONgress.
Why are Congressholes even allowed to participate in the stock market when they are in office? This must end.
We need term limits and stricter rules on our “representatives”
As he should but if it was a demonrat, silent as a mouse
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.