Tag: insider trading

Open post

Burr Steps Aside For Now, But Will it Matter?

The Evening Campaign Update

North Carolina RINO Richard Burr “stepped aside,” i.e., was removed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday for the duration of the FBI’s investigation into his sketchy stock trades back in February. Burr [McConnell] was quoted as saying that he was concerned he had “become a distraction” from the committee’s oh-so-important business.

Given that Burr has spent the last three years using his committee to run cover for the Obama Coup Cabal at the DOJ/FBI/Intelligence Community, his removal from that post, even temporarily, will no doubt excite many who have been frustrated by his serial mendacity.

The problem, though, is that the GOP caucus on that committee is chock full of fellow RINOs with one lone exception. That exception is Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, who is a rising star on the conservative side of the ledger. However, there is pretty much no chance Cotton would be elevated to replace Burr, given that he has the lowest seniority (5 years in the senate) among the Republicans on the committee.

Otherwise, you have this vertiable murderer’s row of RINOs to pick from as Burr’s replacement:

John Cornyn of Texas – 18 years’ seniority
Marco Rubio of Florida – 11 years’ seniority
Jim Risch of Idaho – 9 years’ seniority
Susan Collins of Maine – 23 years’ seniority
Roy Blunt of Missouri – 9 years’ seniority
Ben Sasse of Nebraska – 5 years’ seniority

Cornyn is the Senate Majority Whip and thus unlikely to assume the post. Collins, who has a tough re-election campaign this year, would be a very unlikely choice. Next in line in terms of seniority would be Rubio, followed by Blunt and Risch.

None of them would be any sort of significant improvement over Burr in the job. So, while Burr richly deserves everything that’s coming at him right now, his removal from this chairmanship is nothing to get excited about.

Not receiving quite as much attention is the fact that Senator from China, er, California Dianne Feinstein was herself interviewed by FBI agents regarding some massive stock trades made by she and her husband as the extent of the Wuhan Virus issue was becoming evident during January and February.

From a report at Forbes:

Feinstein’s husband sold millions in shares of Allogene Therapeutics, a California biotech company in January and February, according to Senate financial disclosures.

Feinstein came under intense public scrutiny for the sales in March, along with several other senators who made similar transactions.

Feinstein has defended herself, saying she had “no input” in her husband’s financial transactions during a CNN interview in March.

Now, a spokesman for Feinstein confirms she was asked “some basic questions by law enforcement about her husband’s stock transactions” in April, adding that she was “happy to voluntarily answer those questions to set the record straight.”

[End]

Feinstein, remember, was revealed to have had a spy for the Chinese government employed as her driver for 20 years back in 2018, and the FBI couldn’t be bothered to even ask her about that at the time. But stock trades, now that’s something our “premiere” law enforcement agency, led by the utterly worthless Christopher Wray, can really sink its teeth into.

Not that Feinstein doesn’t deserve the scrutiny – of course she does. But the priorities constantly on display by the FBI – or lack thereof – never cease to amaze.

Anyone expecting either senator to be truly punished for their actions related to these trades is living in a dream world. Burr might – might – get a reprimand of some sort from the Senate ethics office, but only because he has an “R” next to his name. Feinstein’s a D and long ago was rendered completely untouchable. Honestly, if keeping a spy on the payroll for 20 years didn’t earn her any trouble, what would?

Just more business as usual in the DC Swamp.

That is all.

Today’s news moves at a faster pace than ever. Whatfinger.com is my go-to source for keeping up with all the latest events in real time.

Open post

Why Senator Richard Burr May be in Deep Doo-doo

Today’s Campaign Update, Part II (Because the Campaign Never Ends)

Congress’s seamy underbelly floats up to the surface. – On his Fox News show last night, host Tucker Carlson lambasted Senator Richard Burr – chairman of the corrupt Senate Intelligence Committee – and demanded his resignation for off-loading millions of dollars in stock investments immediately after learning of the threat of the coronavirus.

Here’s a clip, followed by a transcript:

Transcript:

You may have seen the news reports this afternoon that the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee sold more than a million dollars in stock in mid-February after learning how devastating the Chinese coronavirus could be. He had inside information about what could happen to our country – which is now happening – but he didn’t warn the public. He didn’t give a prime-time address. He didn’t go on television to sound the alarm.

He didn’t even disavow  the op/ed he’d written just 10 days before, claiming that America was “better prepared than ever for coronavirus.” He didn’t do any of those things. Instead, what did he do? He dumped his shares in hotel stocks so he wouldn’t lose money, and then he stayed silent.

Now, maybe there’s an honest explanation for what he did; if there is, he should share it with the rest of us immediately. Otherwise, he must resign from the Senate and face prosecution for insider trading. There is no greater moral crime than betraying your country in a time of crisis, and that appears to be what happened.

[End]

Now, that’s all great: I have long been a critic of Burr, a useless RINO who has used his chairmanship of the Senate Intel Committee to literally cover up crimes committed against the Trump Campaign and Administration by the Obama-era coup cabal within the DOJ and the Intelligence Community. If he did engage in insider trading then he should resign and be prosecuted.

But let’s be honest here: If you think Burr is the only member of congress who has engaged in this kind of action over the past couple of months, you live in a fairy tale world.

The New York Times ran a report yesterday documenting similar actions by several other senators, including Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). That report is based on financial disclosure statements that members of congress must periodically file. Members are regularly tardy in filing these disclosures, and you can bet the shrinking balance in your 401(k) that we will soon discover that many more members did the same thing.

Some members, when they assume office, shield themselves from this kind of accusation by placing such investments in blind trusts, giving them the plausible deniability of saying that they take no active part in managing their investments. Inhofe, Feinstein and Loeffler all claim that is the case with their investments.

Interestingly, no one from Sen. Burr’s office has made a similar claim at this point. Here’s the statement his spokesperson put out yesterday evening:

“His message has always been, and continues to be, that we must be prepared to protect American lives in the event of a pandemic or bio-attack,” Caitlin Carroll, a spokeswoman for Mr. Burr, said in a statement. “Since early February, whether in constituent meetings or open hearings, he has worked to educate the public about the tools and resources our government has to confront the spread of coronavirus.”

Burr himself took to Twitter to issue a series of tweets about an NPR report covering a speech he made to a group of constituents in February, warning them of the potential impacts of coronavirus on the U.S. economy. Nowhere in those tweets does he attempt to defend his stock divestments.

If Burr does play an active role in managing his own trading, then this is a real problem for him, and helps to explain why Carlson went after him last night, but gave the others a pass.

That is all.

Today’s news moves at a faster pace than ever. Whatfinger.com is my go-to source for keeping up with all the latest events in real time.

Scroll to top