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Dianne Feinstein, 3 Senate colleagues sold off stocks before coronavirus crash: reports
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Ubiquitous
Mar 21, 2020, 10:39:38 AM3/21/20
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Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and three of her Senate colleagues
reported selling off stocks worth millions of dollars in the days
before the coronavirus outbreak crashed the market, according to
reports.
The data is listed on a U.S. Senate website containing financial
disclosures from Senate members.
Feinstein, who serves as ranking member of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, and her husband sold between $1.5 million and $6 million in
stock in California biotech company Allogene Therapeutics, between Jan.
31 and Feb. 18, The New York Times reported.
Feinstein defended herself in a series of tweets on Friday, saying she
has "no control" over her assets and the stocks in question were her
husband's transactions.
"During my Senate career I’ve held all assets in a blind trust of which
I have no control. Reports that I sold any assets are incorrect, as are
reports that I was at a January 24 briefing on coronavirus, which I was
unable to attend," she tweeted.
"Under Senate rules I report my husband's financial transactions. I
have no input into his decisions. My husband in January and February
sold shares of a cancer therapy company. This company is unrelated to
any work on the coronavirus and the sale was unrelated to the
situation."
When questioned by the newspaper, a spokesman for the Democrat from San
Francisco also said Feinstein wasn’t directly involved in the sale.
“All of Senator Feinstein’s assets are in a blind trust,” the
spokesman, Tom Mentzer, told the Times. “She has no involvement in her
husband’s financial decisions.”
Reports identified the three other senators as Richard Burr of North
Carolina, Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and James Inhofe of Oklahoma, all
Republicans.
Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, used more than 30
transactions to dump between $628,000 and $1.72 million on Feb. 13,
according to ProPublica.
The report said the transactions involved a significant percentage of
the senator’s holdings and took place about a week before the impact of
the virus outbreak sent stock prices plunging to the point where gains
made during President Trump’s term in office were largely erased.
“Senator Burr filed a financial disclosure form for personal
transactions made several weeks before the U.S. and financial markets
showed signs of volatility due to the growing coronavirus outbreak,” a
Burr spokesperson said. “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.”
On Friday, the senator tweeted an updated statement saying he relied
only on "public news reports" to guide his decision on the sale. Still,
he said he's asked for a Senate Ethics Committee review of his actions.
Burr was an author of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, a
law that helps determine the federal response to situations such as the
coronavirus outbreak, ProPublica reported. Burr’s office would not
comment on what kind of information Burr might have received about
coronavirus prior to his stock sales, the outlet reported.
NPR reported that Burr made ominous comments about coronavirus behind
closed doors last month.
“There’s one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more
aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in
recent history,” Burr said at a Feb. 27 meeting of business leaders in
Washington. “It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.”
Loeffler was appointed to the Senate in December by Georgia Gov. Brian
Kemp after incumbent Sen. Johnny Isakson resigned because of health
issues – despite allies of President Trump having urged Kemp to select
Rep. Doug Collins instead.
Loeffler and her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, chairman of the New York
Stock Exchange, sold stock Jan. 24, the same day she sat in on a
briefing from two members of Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force, The Daily
Beast reported.
Between that day and Feb. 14, the couple sold stock worth a total
between $1.2 million and $3.1 million, the report said. In addition to
the sales, they also purchased stock in a maker of software that helps
people work at home – just before millions of Americans were forced to
leave their offices because of the outbreak, the report said.
Loeffler slammed the Daily Beast report as a "ridiculous and baseless
attack" in a pair of late-night tweets.
"This is a ridiculous and baseless attack. I do not make investment
decisions for my portfolio. Investment decisions are made by multiple
third-party advisors without my or my husband's knowledge or
involvement," Loeffler wrote. "As confirmed in the periodic transaction
report to Senate Ethics, I was informed of these purchases and sales on
February 16, 2020 — three weeks after they were made."
In an interview Friday with Fox News’ Ed Henry, Loeffler again said any
claim of insider trading is “absolutely false.”
She added, “I’m not involved in the decisions” of buying and selling,
while saying she’d cooperate if any investigation is launched.
Inhofe sold as much as $400,000 in stock all on Jan. 27, in companies
such as PayPal, Apple and real estate company Brookfield Asset
Management, The New York Times reported.
But in a written statement, Inhofe pushed back by saying he was not at
a late January briefing and, further, does not have involvement in
investment choices.
The statement said: “The New York Times allegations are completely
baseless and 100 percent false. I was not at the briefing on January
24. I was meeting with pro-life kids from Oklahoma here for the March
for Life and the new nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania. I do
not have any involvement in my investment decisions. In December 2018,
shortly after becoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
I instructed my financial advisor to move me out of all stocks and into
mutual funds to avoid any appearance of controversy. My advisor has
been doing so faithfully since that time and I am not aware of or
consulted about any transactions.”
The Senate financial disclosure data is available by clicking here.
https://efdsearch.senate.gov/search/home/
--
Every American should want President Trump and his administration to
handle the coronavirus epidemic effectively and successfully. Those who
seem eager to see the president fail and to call every administration
misstep a fiasco risk letting their partisanship blind them to the
demands not only of civic responsibility but of basic decency.
reported selling off stocks worth millions of dollars in the days
before the coronavirus outbreak crashed the market, according to
reports.
The data is listed on a U.S. Senate website containing financial
disclosures from Senate members.
Feinstein, who serves as ranking member of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, and her husband sold between $1.5 million and $6 million in
stock in California biotech company Allogene Therapeutics, between Jan.
31 and Feb. 18, The New York Times reported.
Feinstein defended herself in a series of tweets on Friday, saying she
has "no control" over her assets and the stocks in question were her
husband's transactions.
"During my Senate career I’ve held all assets in a blind trust of which
I have no control. Reports that I sold any assets are incorrect, as are
reports that I was at a January 24 briefing on coronavirus, which I was
unable to attend," she tweeted.
"Under Senate rules I report my husband's financial transactions. I
have no input into his decisions. My husband in January and February
sold shares of a cancer therapy company. This company is unrelated to
any work on the coronavirus and the sale was unrelated to the
situation."
When questioned by the newspaper, a spokesman for the Democrat from San
Francisco also said Feinstein wasn’t directly involved in the sale.
“All of Senator Feinstein’s assets are in a blind trust,” the
spokesman, Tom Mentzer, told the Times. “She has no involvement in her
husband’s financial decisions.”
Reports identified the three other senators as Richard Burr of North
Carolina, Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and James Inhofe of Oklahoma, all
Republicans.
Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, used more than 30
transactions to dump between $628,000 and $1.72 million on Feb. 13,
according to ProPublica.
The report said the transactions involved a significant percentage of
the senator’s holdings and took place about a week before the impact of
the virus outbreak sent stock prices plunging to the point where gains
made during President Trump’s term in office were largely erased.
“Senator Burr filed a financial disclosure form for personal
transactions made several weeks before the U.S. and financial markets
showed signs of volatility due to the growing coronavirus outbreak,” a
Burr spokesperson said. “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.”
On Friday, the senator tweeted an updated statement saying he relied
only on "public news reports" to guide his decision on the sale. Still,
he said he's asked for a Senate Ethics Committee review of his actions.
Burr was an author of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, a
law that helps determine the federal response to situations such as the
coronavirus outbreak, ProPublica reported. Burr’s office would not
comment on what kind of information Burr might have received about
coronavirus prior to his stock sales, the outlet reported.
NPR reported that Burr made ominous comments about coronavirus behind
closed doors last month.
“There’s one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more
aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in
recent history,” Burr said at a Feb. 27 meeting of business leaders in
Washington. “It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.”
Loeffler was appointed to the Senate in December by Georgia Gov. Brian
Kemp after incumbent Sen. Johnny Isakson resigned because of health
issues – despite allies of President Trump having urged Kemp to select
Rep. Doug Collins instead.
Loeffler and her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, chairman of the New York
Stock Exchange, sold stock Jan. 24, the same day she sat in on a
briefing from two members of Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force, The Daily
Beast reported.
Between that day and Feb. 14, the couple sold stock worth a total
between $1.2 million and $3.1 million, the report said. In addition to
the sales, they also purchased stock in a maker of software that helps
people work at home – just before millions of Americans were forced to
leave their offices because of the outbreak, the report said.
Loeffler slammed the Daily Beast report as a "ridiculous and baseless
attack" in a pair of late-night tweets.
"This is a ridiculous and baseless attack. I do not make investment
decisions for my portfolio. Investment decisions are made by multiple
third-party advisors without my or my husband's knowledge or
involvement," Loeffler wrote. "As confirmed in the periodic transaction
report to Senate Ethics, I was informed of these purchases and sales on
February 16, 2020 — three weeks after they were made."
In an interview Friday with Fox News’ Ed Henry, Loeffler again said any
claim of insider trading is “absolutely false.”
She added, “I’m not involved in the decisions” of buying and selling,
while saying she’d cooperate if any investigation is launched.
Inhofe sold as much as $400,000 in stock all on Jan. 27, in companies
such as PayPal, Apple and real estate company Brookfield Asset
Management, The New York Times reported.
But in a written statement, Inhofe pushed back by saying he was not at
a late January briefing and, further, does not have involvement in
investment choices.
The statement said: “The New York Times allegations are completely
baseless and 100 percent false. I was not at the briefing on January
24. I was meeting with pro-life kids from Oklahoma here for the March
for Life and the new nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania. I do
not have any involvement in my investment decisions. In December 2018,
shortly after becoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
I instructed my financial advisor to move me out of all stocks and into
mutual funds to avoid any appearance of controversy. My advisor has
been doing so faithfully since that time and I am not aware of or
consulted about any transactions.”
The Senate financial disclosure data is available by clicking here.
https://efdsearch.senate.gov/search/home/
--
Every American should want President Trump and his administration to
handle the coronavirus epidemic effectively and successfully. Those who
seem eager to see the president fail and to call every administration
misstep a fiasco risk letting their partisanship blind them to the
demands not only of civic responsibility but of basic decency.
David Hartung
Mar 21, 2020, 11:01:52 AM3/21/20
to
Rudy Canoza
Mar 21, 2020, 11:49:43 AM3/21/20
to
What Trump did with Ukraine is far worse. He should have been removed.
--
If you're not reading the New York Times, you're not following the news
BeamMeUpScotty
Mar 21, 2020, 12:28:22 PM3/21/20
to
--
That's Karma
*Plan for the worst and hope for the best*
Leroy Soetoro
Mar 21, 2020, 12:51:10 PM3/21/20
to
Rudy Canoza wrote
>
> Members of congress are not subject to impeachment, you fucking moron.
>
> What Trump did with Ukraine is far worse. He should have been removed.
According to a White House memo from the President, he's experimenting with
Rev. Jim Bakker's silver mouthwash and Alex Jones' silver toothpast on his
young son Barron. At least Trump won't be hurt by the stockmarket crash, he
sold everything as soon has he heard about the virus.
>
> Members of congress are not subject to impeachment, you fucking moron.
>
> What Trump did with Ukraine is far worse. He should have been removed.
Rev. Jim Bakker's silver mouthwash and Alex Jones' silver toothpast on his
young son Barron. At least Trump won't be hurt by the stockmarket crash, he
sold everything as soon has he heard about the virus.
David Hartung
Mar 21, 2020, 1:15:11 PM3/21/20
to
> What Trump did with Ukraine is far worse. He should have been removed.
Rudy Canoza
Mar 22, 2020, 9:46:20 PM3/22/20
to
>> What Trump did with Ukraine is far worse. He should have been removed.
>
> Trump did
ScottW
Mar 22, 2020, 9:58:00 PM3/22/20
to
On Sunday, March 22, 2020 at 6:46:20 PM UTC-7, Rudy Canoza wrote:
>
> *everything* wrong with Ukraine. This is proved.
Can you proved it? Seriously...I'd like to see you proved it.
>
> *everything* wrong with Ukraine. This is proved.
Maybe you learn some english while you're learning to proved things.
BTW...Rudy went to Notre Dame...you didn't. This is proved.
ScottW
Leroy Soetoro
May 12, 2020, 2:11:40 PM5/12/20
to
Rudy Canoza wrote
>
> Members of congress are not subject to impeachment, you fucking moron.
>
> What Trump did with Ukraine is far worse. He should have been removed.
>
> Members of congress are not subject to impeachment, you fucking moron.
>
> What Trump did with Ukraine is far worse. He should have been removed.
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