Finance News Opinons Politics

Dianne Feinstein, 3 Senate Colleagues Sold Off Stocks Before Coronavirus Crash

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and three of her Senate colleagues sold 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.


When questioned by the newspaper, a spokesman for the Democrat from San Francisco 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.”


Democrats target ‘vulnerable’ Republican senators ahead of high-stakes health care showdown
New Jersey’s medically assisted suicide law only covers state residents, appeals court rules
ICE accuses Dem lawmaker of joining ‘rioting crowd’ in Arizona, interfering in mass arrest
Trump rips Indiana GOP leader over redistricting fight, warns Republicans could face ‘MAGA primary’
Human skull, other remains found in bushes by Brooklyn’s Coney Island as investigators work to unravel mystery
Trump administration establishes militarized zone in California: “Strengthen border security operations”
Trump admin weighs terrorism sanctions against UN Palestinian aid agency over Hamas allegations
Ukrainian woman charged over Russian-backed cyberattacks; $10M reward offered for others
Walz urges Noem to ‘reassess’ immigration enforcement strategy in Minnesota after alleged citizen arrests
Obama surprises Chicago students in Santa hat for holiday library storytime reading session
Activist group hits federal judge with judicial misconduct complaint for attending Trump rally
Elite College Football Program Rocked, Head Coach Fired in Salacious Scandal
Former music teacher allegedly groomed and had inappropriate relationship with teen student
Democrat Notches Party’s First Win in Decades in Major Red State Mayor’s Race
Multiple Suspects Arrested After 7 Students Overdose at a Single College Party

“All of Senator Feinstein’s assets are in a blind trust. She has no involvement in her husband’s financial decisions.”

— Tom Mentzer, Feinstein spokesman

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.”

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.


Democrats target ‘vulnerable’ Republican senators ahead of high-stakes health care showdown
New Jersey’s medically assisted suicide law only covers state residents, appeals court rules
ICE accuses Dem lawmaker of joining ‘rioting crowd’ in Arizona, interfering in mass arrest
Trump rips Indiana GOP leader over redistricting fight, warns Republicans could face ‘MAGA primary’
Human skull, other remains found in bushes by Brooklyn’s Coney Island as investigators work to unravel mystery
Trump administration establishes militarized zone in California: “Strengthen border security operations”
Trump admin weighs terrorism sanctions against UN Palestinian aid agency over Hamas allegations
Ukrainian woman charged over Russian-backed cyberattacks; $10M reward offered for others
Walz urges Noem to ‘reassess’ immigration enforcement strategy in Minnesota after alleged citizen arrests
Obama surprises Chicago students in Santa hat for holiday library storytime reading session
Activist group hits federal judge with judicial misconduct complaint for attending Trump rally
Elite College Football Program Rocked, Head Coach Fired in Salacious Scandal
Former music teacher allegedly groomed and had inappropriate relationship with teen student
Democrat Notches Party’s First Win in Decades in Major Red State Mayor’s Race
Multiple Suspects Arrested After 7 Students Overdose at a Single College Party

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.”

See also  The most googled people in US for 2025

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.


Democrats target ‘vulnerable’ Republican senators ahead of high-stakes health care showdown
New Jersey’s medically assisted suicide law only covers state residents, appeals court rules
ICE accuses Dem lawmaker of joining ‘rioting crowd’ in Arizona, interfering in mass arrest
Trump rips Indiana GOP leader over redistricting fight, warns Republicans could face ‘MAGA primary’
Human skull, other remains found in bushes by Brooklyn’s Coney Island as investigators work to unravel mystery
Trump administration establishes militarized zone in California: “Strengthen border security operations”
Trump admin weighs terrorism sanctions against UN Palestinian aid agency over Hamas allegations
Ukrainian woman charged over Russian-backed cyberattacks; $10M reward offered for others
Walz urges Noem to ‘reassess’ immigration enforcement strategy in Minnesota after alleged citizen arrests
Obama surprises Chicago students in Santa hat for holiday library storytime reading session
Activist group hits federal judge with judicial misconduct complaint for attending Trump rally
Elite College Football Program Rocked, Head Coach Fired in Salacious Scandal
Former music teacher allegedly groomed and had inappropriate relationship with teen student
Democrat Notches Party’s First Win in Decades in Major Red State Mayor’s Race
Multiple Suspects Arrested After 7 Students Overdose at a Single College Party

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter