The Justice Department’s investigation into Sen. Richard Burr’s (R-NC) pre-coronavirus stock trading activity continues, despite dropping similar stock sale probes into three other senators.
According to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday, federal prosecutors are informing attorneys who represent Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) that the Justice Department is closing its investigations into their trading that began two months ago.
The FBI launched the investigations following reports that several members of Congress, their spouses or their investment advisers sold hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock upon attending closed-door briefings that discussed pandemic-related threats.
“Today’s clear exoneration by the Department of Justice affirms what Senator Loeffler has said all along—she did nothing wrong,” a spokesperson for Loeffler said in a statement shared with TPM. “This was a politically-motivated attack shamelessly promoted by the fake news media and her political opponents.”
Earlier this month, Burr’s cellphone was seized as part of a criminal investigation. Burr then temporarily stepped down as the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee the next day.
All four senators have denied any wrongdoing related to selling off their shares prior to the stock market crash as a result of the spread of COVID-19.
Read the Wall Street Journal’s report here.
