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Saturday, May 2, 2020

Did Sen. Richard Burr reduce his stock exposure ahead of the coronavirus stock market selloff?

Remaya Campbell, Gigafact Foundry
yes

Sen. Richard Burr, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, received a briefing on the coronavirus on Jan. 24. He and another senator published an opinion piece on Fox News addressing the threat from the virus on Feb. 7.

On Feb. 13, according to public filings, he sold at least $628,000 of a previously disclosed $1.3 million in equity holdings. Stock prices were then near records, but began to decline sharply later in February as worries about the coronavirus grew.

On March 20, Sen. Burr, saying he was acting solely on public news reports at the time, asked the Senate ethics committee to conduct a full investigation.

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