'Lock Them Up': Twitter Users Rip Senators For Dumping Stock Ahead Of Outbreak
Twitter uses are calling out Republican senators Richard Burr (N.C.) and Kelly Loeffler (Georgia) following reports that the two dumped stocks after receiving briefings about the coronavirus threat.
Both were able to sell investments before this month’s market crash.
Neither lawmaker warned the public about the true nature of what the nation was facing; Burr even co-wrote an opinion piece for Fox News in early February crowing that the United States was “better prepared than ever before to face emerging public health threats, like the coronavirus.”
Days later, Burr ― who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee ― sold off between $628,000 and $1.72 million in stock in 33 separate transactions, according to ProPublica.
Loeffler sold off stock in dozens of transactions and also invested in a company that provides teleworking software, The Daily Beast reported on Thursday. Publicly, however, she accused Democrats of misleading the public about the threat and said Trump and his administration were “doing a great job working to keep Americans healthy & safe.”
She wrote on Twitter this week that investment decisions for her portfolio “are made by multiple third-party advisors without my or my husband’s knowledge or involvement.”
Speaking before the allegations against Loeffler surfaced, Fox News host Tucker Carlson said Burr should resign and face prosecution if he doesn’t have a good explanation for his actions.
“There is no greater moral crime than betraying your country in a time of crisis, and that appears to be what happened,” Carlson said.
People on Twitter were livid:
It is stomach-churning that the first thoughts these Senators had to a dire & classified #COVID briefing was how to profit off this crisis.
They didn’t mobilize to help families, or prep response. They dumped stock.
Sen. Loeffler needs to resign, too. https://t.co/3lx1Bjt4be— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 20, 2020
Senators Burr and Loeffler should be investigated by authorities and the Senate Ethics Committee.
If the evidence suggests they engaged in insider trading, they should be charged and stand trial.— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) March 20, 2020
I'm confused. Trump says "if only we'd known," but his lackeys, Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler, knew well enough to dump millions in stocks ahead of the outbreak? 'Splain me.
— Randi Mayem Singer (@rmayemsinger) March 20, 2020
Let me be clear: ANYONE - Republican or Democrat - who sold stock after the Senate intelligence briefing belongs in jail.
This is a non-partisan Issue.
If you used your position for insider trading, you should resign, confess and go to jail.— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) March 20, 2020
The Great Betrayal. https://t.co/viwEr9WYT8
— Waj S Khan (@WajSKhan) March 20, 2020
Whether your last name is Burr or Loeffler, and are an R or D, if your immediate reaction upon learning of an impending pandemic, is to take advantage of your privilege to put yourself in a better position than other Americans, you’re no public servant. You’re self-serving jerk.
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) March 20, 2020
they should be forced to give their profits to the Americans who are losing their jobs.
then #LockThemUp.#InsiderTraitor https://t.co/6J9hxs23C5— Bobby Sands (@kaoconnor) March 20, 2020
They couldn’t even wait a few days before they dumped their stock.#LockThemUp #GOPBetrayedAmerica https://t.co/lcV8LJCP7U
— Nicolas Falacci (@NickFalacci) March 20, 2020
I am so disgusted. I don’t care if he is a Republican, this is a betrayal of the American people. We should hold #Burr and #Loeffler accountable. #InsiderTrading https://t.co/kDiMxedv4Y
— Kylie Jane Kremer (@KylieJaneKremer) March 20, 2020
Here are the names of the GOPers that we know of so far who violated the STOCK Act just before markets crashed...
Richard Burr
Jim Inhofe
Ron Johnson
Kelly Loeffler
In short, they all committed insider trading, which is crime. Lock them up.
It was never about Hunter Biden.— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) March 20, 2020
I refuse to believe Senator Loeffler and Senator Burr were the only ones who engaged in #InsiderTrading. I want my fears and assumptions to be proven wrong. I really do. This level of debased villainy during a pandemic is too much, even for Republicans. That being said...
— Wajahat "Please Stay Home If You Can" Ali (@WajahatAli) March 20, 2020
Senator Richard Burr needs to resign. This is such a shocking betrayal of the public trust https://t.co/7wBdVfETSz
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) March 19, 2020
Imagine being a senator and calling your broker before trying to save your constituents lives?
— Molly Jong-Fast🏡 (@MollyJongFast) March 20, 2020
While Trump was reassuring Americans about this pandemic in early February, both he and Senate Intelligence Chair Richard Burr had received classified Intelligence briefings about the threat of the virus.
— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) March 20, 2020
They could have gotten ahead of this. Instead they were lying and selling their stocks. Vote them the fuck out.
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) March 20, 2020
Remember when we learned that you can detect the spread of the flu by tracking google searches on symptoms? Now we know to track pandemics by looking at Senators’ stock portfolios.
— Bethany Albertson (@AlbertsonB2) March 20, 2020
Well done GA governor Kemp, who appointed this woman to the Senate. Well done @senatemajldr McConnell for giving her that plum assignment regulating her own husband. And kudos Senate Intel chairman Richard Burr for great briefings to your investor pals in and out of the Senate. pic.twitter.com/Tc8w5c47sO
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) March 20, 2020
How’s your 401k? Senator Burr? Well, he’s doing just fine.
Infuriating! https://t.co/oPDsdPsIX4— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) March 20, 2020
The potential insider trading is dreadful and possibly criminal, but what could elevate this to a historic scandal is the idea that senators may have known enough to be alarmed for themselves yet still projected rosy scenarios to the public AND failed to make sure we were ready. https://t.co/PeMktkEPFA
— David French (@DavidAFrench) March 20, 2020
GOP Senators Burr and Loeffler need to resign immediately and then be arrested. They both sold off stocks while lying to the American people about the coronavirus. This is the kind corruption that Chris Collins went to prison for. But this is so much worse. They belong in prison.
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) March 20, 2020
So let me get this straight. Senator Richard Burr, Senator Kelly Loeffler, and who knows how many other Congresspeople sold millions of dollars in securities, possibly violating the STOCK Act and literally robbing everyone’s 401K for profit, yet call themselves “public servants.”
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) March 20, 2020
If reports are true, Sens. Burr and Loeffler must answer to the hard working Americans who’ve been hit the hardest by the virus, esp. as we negotiate a stimulus package.
Will they put the American people first? Or their self interest?
We deserve answers.https://t.co/WQ3p1UEoLI— Rep. Sylvia Garcia (@RepSylviaGarcia) March 20, 2020
“Lol” National betrayal and insider trading is hilarious. https://t.co/IOQgnsCCJY
— Krystal Ball (@krystalball) March 20, 2020
Correction: An earlier version of this report incorrectly stated that the senators were given the information in an intelligence briefing.
Also on HuffPost
Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.