Senator Richard Burr announced on Tuesday that a Justice Department investigation into shares he did before the coronavirus pandemic devastated financial markets has now been closed, signaling the end of the investigation into deals that four senators before the pandemic.
Burr, RN.C .; Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-California; Senator James Inhofe, R-Okla .; and outgoing senator Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., all sold large shares of shares at the end of January and early February 2020. These trades were scrutinized for possible insider trading after many suggested the senators made the moves possible based on inside knowledge that the coronavirus would become an economy-destroying pandemic.
“Tonight, the Department of Justice informed me that it had completed its review of my personal financial transactions early last year,” Burr said Tuesday. “The case is now settled. I am glad to hear that. My focus has been and will continue to be working for the people of North Carolina during this difficult time for our country.”
Sen. Richard Burr, RN.C., right-wing, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Senator Mark Warner, D-Va., Vice-chairman of the committee, speak to the media after receiving closed briefings from acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire. and National Intelligence Inspector General Michael Atkinson, Thursday, September 26, 2019, at Capitol Hill in Washington. Burr said Tuesday that a DOJ investigation into pre-traded shares he did has been closed. (AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin)
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The New York Times first reported the decision not to file charges.
Burr specifically seems to be the most legitimate danger among the four senators. He had the lowest net worth of one of the senators and sold about $ 600,000 to $ 1.7 million in stock, just as rumors of the pandemic began to worry members of Congress. Burr also acknowledged that he himself traded the shares due to pandemic issues, but said the moves were not based on Senate information.
According to Roll Call, Burr’s net worth in 2018 was about $ 1.7 million.
Loeffler has meanwhile sold millions of shares, but this has made up a very small percentage of her net worth. She also noted that her investments are made by “multiple third-party advisors without my or my husband’s knowledge or involvement.” Loeffler’s husband is Jeffrey Sprecher, whose company, Intercontinental Exchange, owns the New York Stock Exchange.
At the time, Burr said he “relied solely on public news reports to guide my financial decisions” and that he specifically “followed CNBC’s daily health and science reporting from his offices in Asia.”
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During the early stages of the pandemic, when markets first adjusted to the threat, the Dow Jones industrial average fell below 20,000 for the first time since 2017. The New York Stock Exchange also traded several times in a period of just a few weeks during mid-March.
But Burr, who said he would not be eligible for re-election in 2022, kept saying his activities were ethical, and even launched an inquiry into the Senate Ethics Committee.
None of the senators received any rebuke from the allegations about their share transactions, either through the Department of Justice or through the Senate internal investigations.
Fox News’ Jason Donner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.