Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and her husband Jeffrey Sprecher, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, are liquidating all of their stock holdings.
The announcement follows persistent allegations that the Senator engaged in insider trading after attending a closed-door briefing on the coronavirus (COVID-19) as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee in January.
Loeffler’s stock dump came shortly before the sharp market decline. She also purchased shares in companies associated with the manufacturing of personal protective equipment and teleworking technology.
The couple’s decision comes one day after an internal poll from Loeffler’s primary opponent, Rep. Doug Collins, showed Collins with a 23 point lead.
CNBC’s Dan Mangan and Thomas Franck have more:
Loeffler on Wednesday reiterated her defense of the prior stock sales as legally and ethically proper, and her claim that the couple’s trading was handled by third parties without her prior knowledge.
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Loeffler, who is the richest member of the Senate, said in a Wall Street Journal opinion page article announcing her decision that her stock holdings would be converted to mutual funds and exchange-traded funds by third-party advisors who handle her investments.
The Journal article carries the headline, “I Never Traded on Confidential Coronavirus Information,” a reference to the fact that Loeffler’s and Sprecher’s trades came after the Senator was briefed with other lawmakers about the virus by federal health officials.
In a statement announcing her liquidation of individual shares, Loeffler, said, “Amid this health crisis, the temptation to circulate lies and misinformation is too great for the media and my political opponents.”
Other United States senators have come under scrutiny for making large stock trades after they attended the same private briefing on the seriousness of COVID-19. They include Richard Burr (R-NC), Diane Feinstein (D-CA), and James Inhofe (R-OK).
Burr simultaneously downplayed the threat of COVID-19 in a February 7 op-ed published on foxnews.com.
On March 10, Loeffler posted a video to Twitter (weeks after her shares were sold) where she claimed, “the consumer is strong, the economy is strong [and] jobs are growing.”
Concerned about #coronavirus? Remember this:
The consumer is strong, the economy is strong, & jobs are growing, which puts us in the best economic position to tackle #COVID19 & keep Americans safe.
Update following meeting with @realdonaldtrump, @VP, & @StevenMnuchin1: pic.twitter.com/H9t2D6x19k
— Senator Kelly Loeffler (@SenatorLoeffler) March 10, 2020
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She’s an Insider Trader and that’s a crime.
Congress voted itself so many protections that we voters don’t know about and only discover when something like insider trading happens by our Congress persons AFTER they are informed that stocks will plunge for some reason and so they are able to dump and not lose money – one up on the average American stock holder – that’s corrupt and corruption is a crime.
But Congress thinks they’re safe/protected and Loeffler is jaunting around sticking out her tongue at us NYAH NYAH ! just like Senators Johnson and Feinstein and Burr, etc., the other Insider Traders are doing, too.
VP Pence put himself on the Don’t Watch-Don’t Listen list for even acknowledging that crook Loeffler and her husband the other crook.
And Barr – well, what about Barr? – thought it was his job to reel in the crooks with an FBI Raid, or something.
For every Republican who does insider trading, there will be two Democrats who do. YOU just don’t hear about it because the media shields them. GOTCHA.
Just anther ‘do as i say and not as I do’ liberal. What else’s new here? The real outrage, these thieves get rich by buying and selling securities thus avoiding loss or making a ‘killing’ using insider information that’s forbidden to the rest of us. This is called theft, pure and simple. ‘Am i missing something here or what?
FACT: The ONLY people who are going to be moral, ethical and honest are those who truly serve God. The rest, either liberal or conservative WILL be secular and will take care of themselves. Yes, there are exceptions. But even they mostly eventually fall and take care of themselves. It is what EVOLUTION — THE RELIGION of atheist point at with the saying “survival of the fittest.”
Seculars focus on the physical and selfishness preservation.
Spirituals focus on spiritual and doing the good that God requires.
How about jail for insider trading. Poor Marta Stewart got years in jail for a lousy $35000. That would bring Loeffler to at least 5 consecutive life sentences. It sure pays well to be a politician. And do not forget the other three crooks.