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.”


100 day sprint to the midterms kicks off as Republicans and Democrats clash for control across the country
WATCH: Democrats blast Trump Saudi nuclear deal as GOP touts regional alliance
California authorities search for 2 children allegedly abducted by father, fear for their safety
At least 1 shot, 1 detained after reported active shooter at Texas mall: police
Federal appeals court rejects Trump bid to enforce mail ballot order ahead of midterm elections
Second House Discovered Related to Family With 16 ‘Almost Feral’ Children – Building Described as ‘Just Urine, Feces’
Armed man in tactical vest emerges from exploding Queens home before being shot by NYPD officers; 2 found dead
India’s education minister resigns after student protests over medical exam leaks
EXCLUSIVE: Alleged $32M COVID-19 fraud fugitive captured in Jamaica and returned to US, FBI says
Court checks Pritzker as Trump administration scores another immigration win
NYC 5-alarm fire injures at least 17 firefighters, others as blaze damages multiple apartment buildings
Katy Perry ‘appalled’ to see her song used on White House TikTok account
Transgender dolls to be available for Minnesota schoolchildren as young as 4 under Walz-backed program: report
Biden judge blocking Ethiopian deportations despite SCOTUS ruling clashed with ICE before
Fewer Gay Professionals Feel Being Gay Helps Their Career

“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.


100 day sprint to the midterms kicks off as Republicans and Democrats clash for control across the country
WATCH: Democrats blast Trump Saudi nuclear deal as GOP touts regional alliance
California authorities search for 2 children allegedly abducted by father, fear for their safety
At least 1 shot, 1 detained after reported active shooter at Texas mall: police
Federal appeals court rejects Trump bid to enforce mail ballot order ahead of midterm elections
Second House Discovered Related to Family With 16 ‘Almost Feral’ Children – Building Described as ‘Just Urine, Feces’
Armed man in tactical vest emerges from exploding Queens home before being shot by NYPD officers; 2 found dead
India’s education minister resigns after student protests over medical exam leaks
EXCLUSIVE: Alleged $32M COVID-19 fraud fugitive captured in Jamaica and returned to US, FBI says
Court checks Pritzker as Trump administration scores another immigration win
NYC 5-alarm fire injures at least 17 firefighters, others as blaze damages multiple apartment buildings
Katy Perry ‘appalled’ to see her song used on White House TikTok account
Transgender dolls to be available for Minnesota schoolchildren as young as 4 under Walz-backed program: report
Biden judge blocking Ethiopian deportations despite SCOTUS ruling clashed with ICE before
Fewer Gay Professionals Feel Being Gay Helps Their Career

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  Academics and CEOs dominate Fed advisory boards

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.


100 day sprint to the midterms kicks off as Republicans and Democrats clash for control across the country
WATCH: Democrats blast Trump Saudi nuclear deal as GOP touts regional alliance
California authorities search for 2 children allegedly abducted by father, fear for their safety
At least 1 shot, 1 detained after reported active shooter at Texas mall: police
Federal appeals court rejects Trump bid to enforce mail ballot order ahead of midterm elections
Second House Discovered Related to Family With 16 ‘Almost Feral’ Children – Building Described as ‘Just Urine, Feces’
Armed man in tactical vest emerges from exploding Queens home before being shot by NYPD officers; 2 found dead
India’s education minister resigns after student protests over medical exam leaks
EXCLUSIVE: Alleged $32M COVID-19 fraud fugitive captured in Jamaica and returned to US, FBI says
Court checks Pritzker as Trump administration scores another immigration win
NYC 5-alarm fire injures at least 17 firefighters, others as blaze damages multiple apartment buildings
Katy Perry ‘appalled’ to see her song used on White House TikTok account
Transgender dolls to be available for Minnesota schoolchildren as young as 4 under Walz-backed program: report
Biden judge blocking Ethiopian deportations despite SCOTUS ruling clashed with ICE before
Fewer Gay Professionals Feel Being Gay Helps Their Career

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