Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “issued a sharp warning” against trading on non-public information related to the coronavirus pandemic days after news broke that unelected “political mega-donor” Senator Kelly Loeffler and her husband, CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, dumped millions in stocks and purchased shares in a teleworking software company after a private January Senate briefing on the crisis.
Despite offloading millions in stocks as the coronavirus pandemic pummeled the market, Senator Loeffler publicly downplayed the economic effects of the public health crisis, claiming that “[t]he consumer is strong, the economy is strong, & jobs are growing.”
The “widespread criticism and calls for investigations” have come in from across the country, from the New York Times and Savannah Morning News editorial boards demanding an ethics investigation to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution putting their damning report on the front-page, and there’s been wall-to-wall TV coverage like this across Georgia about how Loeffler’s stock transactions “are raising questions whether [she was] getting even richer with early knowledge of the virus’s threat.” Two independent ethics watchdog groups have already filed complaints and demanded investigations from the SEC, Department of Justice, and Senate Ethics Committee, creating even more liabilities for the unelected senator already under scrutiny for her “super-swampy” “minefield” of ethical issues.
“Senator Loeffler publicly downplayed the crisis hurting Georgia families, but she and her husband sold off millions in stock as markets plummeted,” said DSCC spokesperson Helen Kalla. “As calls grow for investigations into Senator Loeffler’s shady trades, this is one dilemma she won’t be able to buy her way out of.”
By Dan Mangan
March 23, 2020
Key Points:
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