Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) made more than $164,000 from well-timed trades that were executed after receiving briefings on COVID-19 before the pandemic was declared, according to a newly unsealed document.
Shares held by Burr’s wife Brooke in insurance and telecommunications companies were sold on Jan. 30, 2020, just hours before the White House announced that the United States was banning travelers from China due to COVID-19, the document says.
On Feb. 7, 2020, Burr co-authored an op-ed stating that the United States was “better prepared than ever before to face emerging public health threats, like the coronavirus, in large part due to the work of the Senate Health Committee, Congress, and the Trump Administration.” Five days after that, Burr bought $1.1 million in U.S. Treasury funds, which are often purchased as a hedge against a market decline. The following day, Burr moved to sell nearly all the stock he and his wife held….