Three Senate Republicans who voted to acquit Donald Trump in the impeachment trial used insider information to sell stocks and save money before the coronavirus crash.
Sens. Richard Burr, Kelly Loefflers and James Inhofe all voted to acquit Trump and dumped their stock to avoid the crash.
The record of Mr. Burr’s stock transaction shows he and his wife sold 33 different stocks on Feb. 13 that were collectively worth $628,000 to $1.7 million, according to the disclosures filed with the secretary of the Senate.
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Mr. Inhofe sold a large amount of stock — all on Jan. 27 — including holdings in PayPal, Apple and Brookfield Asset Management, a real estate company, with the overall value of the sales totaling as much as $400,000, a disclosure report shows.
Ms. Loeffler and her husband, Jeffrey C. Sprecher, who is the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, reported 27 stock sales worth millions of dollars starting on Jan. 24. On that day, Ms. Loeffler tweeted about attending the Senate briefing on the coronavirus. The stocks the couple sold were in companies including Exxon Mobil, Ross Stores and AutoZone.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s husband also sold stock, but her assets are in a blind trust that she has nothing to do with, and the stock that was sold was losing money before the coronavirus market crash.
It appears that the three Republicans who dumped their stock did so based on insider information that they learned in Senate briefings. Using such information for personal gain is a violation of the STOCK Act.
The problem is that any prosecution of the Senators would be handled by the Department of Justice and Trump’s Attorney General William Barr.
Trump’s corruption is a symptom of larger systemic corrupt behavior within the Republican Party.
It isn’t a surprise that the same Republicans who turned a blind eye to Trump’s crimes are committing crimes of their own.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
