FBI seizes phone of top Senator in insider-trading probe
WASHINGTON (AFP)The FBI has seized a cellphone of US Senator Richard Burr to see if he used his insider access to classified intelligence to sell stock before the coronavirus pandemic struck, according to news reports Thursday.
The Los Angeles Times said federal agents wielding a warrant seized the cellphone of the Republican Senate Intelligence Committee chairman late Wednesday at his Washington home.
They have also accessed Burr’s personal files on his i-cloud account in the investigation, and this information led them to the phone, the newspaper reported, quoting law enforcement officials.
NBC News also reported on the cellphone seizure, citing an unnamed senior law enforcement official.
One of the most respected and non-partisan Republican senators, Burr came under investigation after reports showed he had dumped stocks and warned donors of the looming COVID-19 pandemic in February even as the White House played down the danger.
Burr, who receives almost daily briefings from the US intelligence community on threats to the country, himself wrote on the Fox News website on February 7 that the
US government was “better prepared than ever” for the COVID-19 virus, assuring Americans that they were wellprotected.
But as President Donald Trump repeatedly said the virus would not hit the United States hard, on February 13 the North Carolina senator and his wife suddenly sold off at least $628,000 and as much as $1.7 million in stocks, the Propublica media group revealed in March, citing financial filings.