Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler dumped stocks after coronavirus meeting
https://nypost.com/2020/03/19/georgia-senator-dumped-stocks-after-private-meeting-on-coronavirus-report/
A wealthy Georgia senator is reportedly the second member of Congress to have dumped massive blocks of stocks following a private, chamber-wide meeting on the new coronavirus.
Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, whose husband is chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, began selling off more than a million dollars in stocks on the same day as the closed-door Senate meeting on Friday, Jan. 24, reports the Daily Beast.
Over the next three weeks, through Feb. 14, Loeffler made 27 sales worth between $1,275,000 and $3,100,000, before the market nosedived and the values of her holdings tanked.
She also purchased stocks on Feb. 14 from two work-from-home-related companies — Citrix, which specializes in teleworking software, and another tech firm, Oracle, according to the report.
“Appreciate today’s briefing from the President’s top health officials on the novel coronavirus outbreak,” she tweeted after the meeting.
Even after allegedly dumping her holdings, Loeffler bashed Democrats for playing up the threats of the virus.
“
Democrats have dangerously and intentionally misled the American people on #Coronavirus readiness,” she tweeted in late February. “Here’s the truth: @realDonaldTrump & his administration are doing a great job working to keep Americans healthy & safe.”
The freshman senator didn’t make any market moves before the meeting since taking office on Jan. 6, the Daily Beast reported.
A spokesperson for Loeffler said the senator didn’t directly handle her stock portfolio and wasn’t aware of the transactions until weeks after the meeting, on Feb 16.
“This is a ridiculous and baseless attack. Sen. Loeffler does not make investment decisions for her portfolio,” the spokesperson said. “Investment decisions are made by multiple third-party advisers without her or her husband’s knowledge or involvement.”
She was the second member of Congress to reportedly dump large stock holdings following the briefing.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and his wife, Brooke, sold between $628,000 and $1.7 million in publicly traded stocks on Feb. 13, a week before the market fell, the Center for Responsive Politics first reported.
“Senator Burr filed a financial disclosure form for personal transactions made several weeks before the US and financial markets showed signs of volatility due to the growing coronavirus outbreak,” a spokesperson for Burr told the nonprofit. “As the situation continues to evolve daily, he has been deeply concerned by the steep and sudden toll this pandemic is taking on our economy.”
