Senatorial Insider Trading Scandal

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Overview

Senatorial Insider Trading Scandal refers to suspicious stock market activity undertaken by United States Senators Richard Burr, Kelly Loeffler, Dianne Feinstein, Ron Johnson and James Inhofe after being briefed on the potential economic impact of the Coronavirus Outbreak before the March 9th, 2020 Stock Market Crash.

Background

On March 19th, 2020, ProPublica^[1] and Daily Beast^[2] posted articles reporting that Republican senators Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler both sold millions of dollars worth of stocks after a January 24th, 2020 briefing held by the Senate Health Committee, which is run by Loeffler, the CDC director, and the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci.

Loeffler allegedly made 27 sales over the next several weeks, and two purchases in Citrex, a company which created telecommuting technology, which saw a small rise in stock. Loeffler is also married to Jeffrey Sprecher, the chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange. Burr sold between $628,000 and $1.72 million in 33 separate transactions.

Following the reports, other Senators came under scrutiny for their transactions made after the briefing. The New York Times^[3] reported that Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California sold $1.5 million to $6 million worth of stock in a California-based biotech company. Feinstein and Loeffler denied knowing about the sales, saying their investment decisions are made without their or their husbands' knowledge.

Senator James Inhofe sold $400,000 in Paypal, Apple, and Brookfield Asset Management, but denied he had attended the January 24th meeting.

Senator Ron Johnson sold between $5 and $25 million of stock in Pacur LLC, his family's privately owned company, but denied it having anything to do with the Coronavirus, saying the deal had been in the works since 2018.^[4]

Developments

The news led to a public outcry from politicians and pundits in the United States. Tucker Carlson called on Burr to resign, saying, "He had inside information about what could happen to our country, which is now happening, but he didn’t warn the public… He dumped his shares in hotel stocks so he wouldn’t lose money, and then he stayed silent… There is no greater moral crime than betraying your country in a time of crisis."

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also called on Burr and Loeffler to resign.^[5] Congressman Jared Huffman tweeted, "Senator Burr should resign and prepare to spend some quality time with a federal grand jury."^[6]

The news led hashtags including #Burrisma,^[7] #LockThemAllUp,^[8] and the phrase "Insider Trading"^[9] to trend on Twitter on March 20th, 2020.

Search Interest

External References