Burr resigns from top post after FBI serves warrant

WASHINGTON — The Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Thursday he would temporarily step down from his committee post after the FBI seized his cellphone in its investigation into whether he sold a significant portion of his stock portfolio because of information he learned in the course of his Senate work.

Sen. Richard M. Burr, RN.C., said the investigation is a “distraction to the hard work of the committee and the members, and I think that the security of the country is too important to have a distraction.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he and Burr agreed that his decision to step aside “would be in the best interests of the committee” and would take effect Friday evening.

The move marks a significant escalation of law enforcement’s investigation into potentially millions of dollars worth of stock trades Burr made as the coronavirus first struck the United States.

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that Burr turned his phone over to agents after they served a search warrant on the lawmaker at his residence in the Washington area.

Burr sold a significant percentage of his stock portfolio in 33 different transactions on Feb. 13, just as his committee was receiving coronavirus briefings from U.S. public health officials and a week before the stock market declined sharply. Much of the stock was invested in businesses that in subsequent weeks were hit hard by the plunging market.

He has previously denied any wrongdoing, saying he made the trades based solely on public information. He said Thursday he is complying with the FBI’s investigation and that he plans to serve out his term, which ends in 2022.

Several other senators from both parties also sold and bought stock ahead of the market downturn. It’s not clear who else the Justice Department may be examining.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was questioned last month by law enforcement about stock transactions by her husband, Richard Blum, shortly before stocks tumbled.

Feinstein was asked “basic factual” questions, according to her spokesman, Tom Mentzer.

“She was happy to voluntarily answer those questions to set the record straight and provided additional documents to show she had no involvement in her husband’s transactions,” Mentzer said. “There have been no follow-up actions on this issue.”

Feinstein’s personal stocks have been in a blind trust since she came to the Senate, Mentzer said. The stocks traded in February were owned by her husband. Senators are required to disclose their spouses’ financial holdings.