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David Leonhardt, Opinion ColumnistOn Jan. 24, Richard Burr, a Republican senator from North Carolina, attended a private Senate briefing from senior government scientists about the seriousness of the coronavirus. Kelly Loeffler, a Republican senator from Georgia, received the same briefing.
At the time, many Americans did not yet understand the danger that the virus posed. The same day as the briefing, President Trump - in one of his many attempts over the past two months to make the virus seem like a frivolous matter - tweeted, "It will all work out well."
Given the disconnect between what they knew and the public's understanding, Burr and Loeffler had an opportunity to sound the alarm. They could have broken ranks with other congressional Republicans and told the country to take the situation more seriously. They could have criticized Trump for not doing more. Such criticism, coming from Trump's own party, would have received major attention. It would have had the potential to alter Trump administration policy and, by extension, the course the disease took.
But Burr and Loeffler did virtually nothing to protect the health and safety of their constituents or of Americans in other states. (Burr went so far as to co-write an article for FoxNews.com bragging about the country's readiness.) Here's what the two senators did instead: They sold large amounts of their personal stock holdings, cashing in before the market sharply declined, as the severity of the virus became apparent to everyone.
The Daily Beast broke the story of Loeffler's trades, which added up to between $1.2 million and $3.1 million. She started selling the shares the same day as the briefing. She also bought "between $100,000 and $250,000 in Citrix, a technology company that offers teleworking software" and whose share price has risen since the crisis began, The Daily Beast's Lachlan Markay, William Bredderman and Sam Brodey write.
The Center for Responsive Politics and ProPublica broke the news of Burr's trades, which amounted to between $600,000 and $1.8 million. Among the shares that he and his wife sold were those in three hotel companies, all of which have since seen their stock prices hammered, Karl Evers-Hillstrom wrote.
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