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.”


Rubio criticizes media for demanding comment on Guilfoyle report: ‘It’s not the gospel’
‘Demon,’ ‘Bigot,’ ‘Satan Spawn’: Duchess Meghan’s Fans Rabidly Attack Priest for Offering up $8 Version of Her $150 Advent Calendar
‘Cornell 7’ Figure Fights Back Against ‘Improper’ Appointment of Letitia James with Court Move
Ken Paxton touts ‘missing Talarico’ flyers across Texas
‘Annie Trannie Andrews’ and ‘Mohammed el Sayed’: Trump goes scorched-earth on Democrats. Will it backfire?
Nicolas Maduro and wife Cilia Flores face new charge of conspiracy to torture Americans
Dem House hopeful alleges she was brutally attacked during 2 am campaign errand
Fox News President Issues Defiant Response to Trump’s Criticism: ‘It’s What We Do’
Andrews says she doesn’t support gender surgeries for minors after previously advocating against a ban
Russia denies another plague case as WHO presses for more information
Taxpayer-funded autism giant faces scrutiny over abuse cases and billing as Trump targets healthcare fraud
Rally Crowd Chants ‘Where Is James Talarico’ as Senate Candidate Disappears from Campaign Trail for 11 Days
Letitia James’ underdog rival turns AG’s own playbook against her with scathing 52-count campaign ‘indictment’
Hillary Clinton issues endorsement in US midterm elections
Ithaca council halts Cornell event permits amid scrutiny over handling of rape allegations

“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.


Rubio criticizes media for demanding comment on Guilfoyle report: ‘It’s not the gospel’
‘Demon,’ ‘Bigot,’ ‘Satan Spawn’: Duchess Meghan’s Fans Rabidly Attack Priest for Offering up $8 Version of Her $150 Advent Calendar
‘Cornell 7’ Figure Fights Back Against ‘Improper’ Appointment of Letitia James with Court Move
Ken Paxton touts ‘missing Talarico’ flyers across Texas
‘Annie Trannie Andrews’ and ‘Mohammed el Sayed’: Trump goes scorched-earth on Democrats. Will it backfire?
Nicolas Maduro and wife Cilia Flores face new charge of conspiracy to torture Americans
Dem House hopeful alleges she was brutally attacked during 2 am campaign errand
Fox News President Issues Defiant Response to Trump’s Criticism: ‘It’s What We Do’
Andrews says she doesn’t support gender surgeries for minors after previously advocating against a ban
Russia denies another plague case as WHO presses for more information
Taxpayer-funded autism giant faces scrutiny over abuse cases and billing as Trump targets healthcare fraud
Rally Crowd Chants ‘Where Is James Talarico’ as Senate Candidate Disappears from Campaign Trail for 11 Days
Letitia James’ underdog rival turns AG’s own playbook against her with scathing 52-count campaign ‘indictment’
Hillary Clinton issues endorsement in US midterm elections
Ithaca council halts Cornell event permits amid scrutiny over handling of rape allegations

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  Somali former aide to Minneapolis mayor sentenced in Feeding Our Future fraud case

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.


Rubio criticizes media for demanding comment on Guilfoyle report: ‘It’s not the gospel’
‘Demon,’ ‘Bigot,’ ‘Satan Spawn’: Duchess Meghan’s Fans Rabidly Attack Priest for Offering up $8 Version of Her $150 Advent Calendar
‘Cornell 7’ Figure Fights Back Against ‘Improper’ Appointment of Letitia James with Court Move
Ken Paxton touts ‘missing Talarico’ flyers across Texas
‘Annie Trannie Andrews’ and ‘Mohammed el Sayed’: Trump goes scorched-earth on Democrats. Will it backfire?
Nicolas Maduro and wife Cilia Flores face new charge of conspiracy to torture Americans
Dem House hopeful alleges she was brutally attacked during 2 am campaign errand
Fox News President Issues Defiant Response to Trump’s Criticism: ‘It’s What We Do’
Andrews says she doesn’t support gender surgeries for minors after previously advocating against a ban
Russia denies another plague case as WHO presses for more information
Taxpayer-funded autism giant faces scrutiny over abuse cases and billing as Trump targets healthcare fraud
Rally Crowd Chants ‘Where Is James Talarico’ as Senate Candidate Disappears from Campaign Trail for 11 Days
Letitia James’ underdog rival turns AG’s own playbook against her with scathing 52-count campaign ‘indictment’
Hillary Clinton issues endorsement in US midterm elections
Ithaca council halts Cornell event permits amid scrutiny over handling of rape allegations

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