It's Heating Up: FBI Questioning Feinstein Over Stock Sales, Burr Steps Aside From Intel Chair

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
AP featured image
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, followed at left by Sen.Tom Carper, D-Del., return to their offices following a vote during the lame duck session, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018. Feinstein won another six-year term in this year’s midterm victory over opponent Kevin de Leon, the former Democratic leader of the California State Senate. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Looks like the FBI is not bypassing a real look into the senators who dumped stocks over the pandemic.

While it’s legal to sell off based on public information, the question raised was if multiple senators sold stocks after they were briefed about the virus in their capacity as senators, if they did in based on insider information.

The FBI appears to be looking into both Republicans and Democratic senators.

Among the people have been questioned by the FBI are Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC).

Feinstein was questioned over her husbands stock sales at the start of the pandemic, according to Fox. Feinstein’s office confirmed she had been questioned.

“Senator Feinstein was asked some basic questions by law enforcement about her husband’s stock transactions, as I think all offices in the initial story were,” a spokesman for the California Democrat told Fox News on Thursday.

“She was happy to voluntarily answer those questions to set the record straight and provided additional documents to show she had no involvement in her husband’s transactions,” the spokesman said. “There have been no follow up actions on this issue.”

Earlier this year, reports had said Feinstein, who is the top Democrat on 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.

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She also reportedly had to turn over documents to the FBI.

Her spokesperson denied the she had done anything improper saying that the stocks were in a blind trust and she had no access or involvement in decisions to sell.

Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Burr has his phone seized by the FBI and saved a search warrant at his Washington, D.C. home, likely looking for texts about the trades.

Burr said he had done nothing wrong and asked for the Senate Ethics Committee to look into his sales to verify that. He also contacted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and stepped down as Chair of the Senate Intel Committee.

In March, Burr’s attorney, Alice Fisher of Latham & Watkins, said in a statement to Fox News that the senator welcomed any review of his stock sales.

“The law is clear that any American — including a senator — may participate in the stock market based on public information, as Senator Burr did,” Fisher said. “When this issue arose, Senator Burr immediately asked the Senate Ethics Committee to conduct a complete review, and he will cooperate with that review, as well as any other appropriate inquiry.”

She added: “Senator Burr welcomes a thorough review of the facts in the matter, which will establish that his actions were appropriate.”

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Interestingly, it was mostly those on the left who were upset with the action against Burr, again spinning conspiracy theories that he was being investigated because of the president. Funny how folks on the left believe that Trump is incapable yet at the same time view him as an evil genius plotting against people. Meanwhile, folks on the right were not all that upset because they viewed Burr as an impediment to action being taken for accountability for the many scandals of the Obama administration.

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