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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Senator Dumped Up to $1.6 Million of Stock After Reassuring Public About Coronavirus Preparedness |
| 2020-03-20 |
| DeepStaters gonna self-protect. Burn him. [ProPublica] Intelligence Chair Richard Burr’s selloff came around the time he was receiving daily briefings on the health threat. 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. Related: Richard Burr: 2020-02-07 ‘Frozen by paralysis of analysis': Obama administration botched response to election meddling from Russia, senators say Richard Burr: 2019-02-13 Senate Intel Panel to Conclude No Evidence of Trump-Russia Conspiracy Richard Burr: 2018-12-12 Clapper asks for leniency for Senate Intel Committee source Related: Senate Intelligence Committee: 2020-02-07 ‘Frozen by paralysis of analysis': Obama administration botched response to election meddling from Russia, senators say Senate Intelligence Committee: 2019-12-15 Who Apologizes to Carter Page? Senate Intelligence Committee: 2019-11-29 FBI Diagnosed With CIA Disease |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #21 Whatever. I did the same thing at the same time. Business common sense is not a crime. |
| Posted by: Woodrow 2020-03-20 19:42 |
| #20 Still more reasons to despise Richard Burr, who has presided over a Schiff-friendly Shitshow as Chair of the Senate Intel Committee - Mollie Hemingway has the goods on Burr |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-03-20 18:21 |
| #19 Loeffler might be on solid ground. Still begs the q. as to whether someone whose spouse is president of a stock exchange should be allowed to hold a public office that provides advance knowledge of monetary policy. A less corrupt polity than ours would likely say No. |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-03-20 14:10 |
| #18 Loeffler denied doing it, sez hers are in a blind trust. Who knows? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2020-03-20 12:53 |
| #17 To avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, it might be best if high level politicians put those types of assets into a blind trust. We don't send them to Washington DC to get rich. We send them there to serve our interests. If they want to serve their own interests they should remain private citizens. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2020-03-20 12:42 |
| #16 Except for Presidents, who can be impeached for such infractions, real or imagined. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2020-03-20 12:19 |
| #15 Jail time needs to come for these idiots. Average people get jail for it, so should they. Also no public official should be allowed to own and trade stock or own a business when they can write the laws and regulations for them. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2020-03-20 12:09 |
| #14 And Burr has run interference for the IC on the coup attempt. It ain't just the Dems who are scum. |
| Posted by: charger 2020-03-20 11:29 |
| #13 Good judgment comes from inside information. |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-03-20 10:23 |
| #12 What is the STOCK Act? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-03-20 09:50 |
| #11 In USA 2.0 (rebooted), make it illegal for sitting congress-a-holes and their immediate family to hold or trade stocks. if they can't get by on their salary, then go 'serve' elsewhere |
| Posted by: Bob Grorong1136 2020-03-20 09:43 |
| #10 Feinstein is also guilty |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2020-03-20 09:11 |
| #9 If you haven't read Peter Schweizer's book Throw Them All Out, you should. In the eyes of the Senate (and House) "Ethics" rules, Burr, like many before him (Feinstein, Pelosi, Kerry, Hastert) did nothing improper (but which would put you and me in jail). One more reason why these old geezer politicians won't leave Capitol Hill--it's just too profitable. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-03-20 07:27 |
| #8 ^ Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-03-20 07:04 |
| #7 Wisdom = knowledge and experience. Anyone with market wisdom saw this coming by late February. Any broker who didn’t tell their clients to sell some holdings was not doing their job. If you don’t sell high you can’t buy low. |
| Posted by: Alistaire Tingle9882 2020-03-20 06:54 |
| #6 Scott Brown (Repub. Senator from MA) sponsored a bill in the Senate making this sort of thing illegal - guess how well that bill did? |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-03-20 06:20 |
| #5 The ever pervasive D.C. mentality, 'hurray for me, fok you.' Shocking, no ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-03-20 06:04 |
| #4 Senator Warner of VA did the same in 2008. They all do it and technically it is not illegal for them (unless the law changed after the 2008 $hit$how). The real dumb ones talk about it. |
| Posted by: Airandee 2020-03-20 04:14 |
| #3 Loeffler did this too. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-03-20 02:56 |
| #2 Recalls the Senator from Heinz's behavior shortly after hearing Sec'y Paulson's closed-door testimony in Sept-2008 |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-03-20 00:44 |
| #1 Shitshow, (R) edition |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-03-20 00:43 |