NC senator asks for ethics review of his stock sales

WASHINGTON — Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., is asking for an ethics review after coming under criticism for selling off as much as $1.7 million in stocks just before the market dropped in February amid coronavirus fears.

Senate records show Burr and his wife sold between roughly $600,000 and $1.7 million in more than 30 separate transactions in late January and mid-February, just before the market began to fall and as government health officials began to issue stark warnings about the effects of the virus. Several of the stocks were in companies that own hotels.

In a statement Friday, Burr said he had asked for the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate the matter, “understanding the assumption many could make in hindsight.”

Burr said he relied “solely on public news reports,” specifically CNBC’s daily health and science reporting out of its Asia bureaus, to make the financial decisions.

There is no indication that Burr, who is not running for reelection when his term ends in 2022, had inside information as he sold the stocks. The intelligence panel he leads did not have any briefings on the pandemic the week when most of the stocks were sold, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person declined to be identified to discuss confidential committee activity.

Senators did receive a closed-door briefing on the virus on Jan. 24, which was public knowledge. A separate briefing was held Feb. 12 by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which Burr is a member of. It’s unclear if he attended either session.

The stock sales were first reported by ProPublica and The Center for Responsive Politics. Most of them came on Feb. 13, just before Burr made a speech in Washington, D.C., in which he predicted severe consequences from the virus, including closed schools and cutbacks in company travel, according to audio obtained by National Public Radio and released Thursday.

Burr told the small North Carolina State Society audience that the virus was “much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history” and “probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.”

Burr’s remarks were much more dire than remarks he had made publicly, and came as President Donald Trump was still downplaying the severity of the virus.

Burr’s North Carolina colleague, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, tweeted Friday that Burr “owes North Carolinians an explanation” and that his referral to the ethics panel is appropriate. Tillis is up for reelection this year.

Burr was not the only lawmaker to sell off stocks just before the steep decline spurred by he global pandemic. Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a new senator who is up for reelection this year, sold off hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stock in late January, as senators began to get briefings on the virus, also according to Senate records.

In the weeks that followed, Loeffler urged constituents to have faith in the Trump administration’s efforts to prepare the nation. She also sits on the Senate HELP panel.

The senator is married to Jeffrey Sprecher, the chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange.

In a tweet early Friday morning, Loeffler said the report was a “ridiculous & baseless attack.”

“Investment decisions are made by multiple thirdparty advisors without my or my husband’s knowledge or involvement,” she tweeted. She said she was informed of the decisions three weeks after they were made.

Loeffler and her husband offloaded anywhere between about $1.1 million and $2.8 million in stock in January and February from their portfolio.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, also reported that her husband sold off between $1.1 million and $5.5 million worth of stock in Allogene Therapeutics more than a month ago.

Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe also sold off anywhere between roughly $395,000 and $850,000 worth of stock he held in multiple companies in late January and early February, according to a disclosure.

Burr