Dear Friend,
Demand Progress has filed a formal complaint with the Senate Ethics
Committee calling for an investigation into Senator Richard Burr.
At the very same time that Senator Burr and Senator Kelly Loeffler were
telling the public that the "economy is strong" and even attacking
Democrats for exaggerating the danger of the coronavirus, they were
dumping millions of dollars of stock holdings based on classified
intelligence.^1,2
Senators Burr and Loeffler are counting on us to be too wrapped up in the
exploding coronavirus news cycle to take them to task — but this
corruption is just too immense. Demand Progress is filing with the Senate
Ethics Committee and the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a
formal investigation into these senators' insider trading. We're also
leading the coalition asking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to
remove Sen. Burr as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
[ [link removed] ]We're demanding an investigation be opened immediately, and that Sen.
Burr resign as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Will you make a
donation to help us fight this corruption in the Senate head on??
These senators were in a position to make a difference when it mattered.
They could have led a bipartisan effort to fund an expansion of health
care infrastructure or urged people to practice social distancing. They
could have acted to protect Americans now being crushed by the
coronavirus-driven economic collapse.
Instead they sold their stock.
The corruption is jaw-dropping. As chair of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, Richard Burr was privy to classified information about the
coronavirus pandemic. He dumped between $600,000 and $1.8 million,
including stock in hotel chains that has crashed over the last week.^3,4
Senator Loeffler sold between $1.2 million and $3.1 million beginning on
the same day she received a confidential briefing on the impending crisis.
Not only did she dump stock that was just about to crash, she bought as
much as $250,000 in stock in Citrix, a company that builds software for
virtual offices and telecommuting.^5
There are also now reports that other senators—including possibly
Democrats—may have participated in similar schemes. If so, we will be
equally hard on them.
As our formal complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee says, "A public
office is a public trust. These facts provide grounds to believe that
Senator Burr has used information provided to him in his official capacity
as a Member of the United States Senate and as Chairman of the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence to obtain a personal pecuniary benefit.
In addition, it suggests that he sought to minimize public understanding
of the Coronavirus threat while accruing a financial benefit to himself."
We can’t let a crisis be a cover for our representatives to game the
system. But we need resources to keep our legal work going in these
troubling times.
[ [link removed] ]Will you donate to support our efforts to open an investigation into
this extraordinary betrayal in the Senate?
Thanks for standing with us.
Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress
[ [link removed] ]DONATE
Sources:
1. The New York Times, "Senator Richard Burr Sold a Fortune in Stocks as
G.O.P. Played Down Coronavirus Threat," [ [link removed] ]March 20, 2020
2. Vanity Fair, "Oops: Senator Kelly Loeffler Dumped Millions in Stock
While Downplaying Coronavirus Risks," [ [link removed] ]March 20, 2020
3. Demand Progress, Request for Investigation into Senator Richard Burr,"
[ [link removed] ]March 20, 2020
4. ProPublica, "Senator Dumped Up to $1.7 Million of Stock After
Reassuring Public About Coronavirus Preparedness," [ [link removed] ]March 19, 2020
5. The Daily Beast, Sen. Kelly Loeffler Dumped Millions in Stock After
Coronavirus Briefing," [ [link removed] ]March 19, 2020
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