The Justice Department has launched a probe into a series of stock transactions made by at least one senator just before the market saw a steep downturn due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report.
The investigation is being done in tandem with the Securities and Exchange Commission and has, thus far, reached out to Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), according to CNN.
As the outlet reports, it is commonplace for the FBI and SEC to investigate stock trades when there is public scrutiny of them.
Burr sparked bipartisan outrage over his sale of $1.7 million in publicly traded stocks just one week before the market crashed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
At the time, Burr sat in confidential briefings on a near-daily basis on coronavirus and was publicly downplaying the threat of the soon-to-be pandemic in media appearances and op-eds he authored.
His investment decisions being made just prior to markets entering a tailspin led critics on both sides of the aisle to accuse him of enriching himself off a national economic crisis.
Burr has since said his stock sales were solely guided by public media reports about the rapidly spreading virus. He also said he had requested a Senate Ethics Committee review of his conduct.
In response to the probe, Burr’s lawyer Alice Fisher told CNN that the senator “welcomes a thorough review of the facts in this matter, which will establish that his actions were appropriate.”
“The law is clear that any American — including a Senator — may participate in the stock market based on public information, as Senator Burr did,” Fisher said.
When this issue arose, Senator Burr immediately asked the Senate Ethics Committee to conduct a complete review, and he will cooperate with that review as well as any other appropriate inquiry,” she continued.
Fisher did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on the matter.
