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nebrisSenator Richard Burr of North Carolina has been accused of insider trading following a massive stock sell-off around the same time that he was receiving briefings on the coronavirus from U.S. public health officials. On Wednesday, FBI agents went to his residence to serve a search warrant targeting his phone records. One day later, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that Burr would be stepping down as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, adding that “we agreed that this decision would be in the best interests of the committee.”
As former DOJ spokesman Matthew Miller tweeted, “showing up at the home of a U.S. Senator and executing a warrant is not business as usual and not a step the FBI would take lightly.” Similarly, the L.A. Times reported that “such a warrant being served on a sitting U.S. senator would require approval from the highest ranks of the Justice Department and is a step that would not be taken lightly.”
Senator Burr should definitely be held accountable if it can be proved that he engaged in insider trading as the country was careening towards a pandemic. That is not only illegal, it is unconscionable behavior for a public servant. But Burr wasn’t the only one. Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia did the same thing. Why isn’t the FBI knocking on her door to serve a subpoena?
The first thing to know in answer to that question is that Senator Loeffler has been a loyal Trumpist—defending the president on everything from his extortion of Ukraine to his handling of the coronavirus. While Senator Burr has hardly been a Trump critic, during his tenure as chair of the Intelligence Committee he hasn’t toed the president’s line with respect to Russiagate.
Burr’s committee spent years investigating Russia’s attempt to interfere in the 2016 election and has so far produced four bipartisan reports on their findings.
https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/a-trump-loyalist-is-given-a-pass-while-one-who-hasnt-always-toed-the-party-line-is-being-harassed/
As former DOJ spokesman Matthew Miller tweeted, “showing up at the home of a U.S. Senator and executing a warrant is not business as usual and not a step the FBI would take lightly.” Similarly, the L.A. Times reported that “such a warrant being served on a sitting U.S. senator would require approval from the highest ranks of the Justice Department and is a step that would not be taken lightly.”
Senator Burr should definitely be held accountable if it can be proved that he engaged in insider trading as the country was careening towards a pandemic. That is not only illegal, it is unconscionable behavior for a public servant. But Burr wasn’t the only one. Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia did the same thing. Why isn’t the FBI knocking on her door to serve a subpoena?
The first thing to know in answer to that question is that Senator Loeffler has been a loyal Trumpist—defending the president on everything from his extortion of Ukraine to his handling of the coronavirus. While Senator Burr has hardly been a Trump critic, during his tenure as chair of the Intelligence Committee he hasn’t toed the president’s line with respect to Russiagate.
Burr’s committee spent years investigating Russia’s attempt to interfere in the 2016 election and has so far produced four bipartisan reports on their findings.
https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/a-trump-loyalist-is-given-a-pass-while-one-who-hasnt-always-toed-the-party-line-is-being-harassed/
