
Senator dumped up to $1.6M of stock after reassuring public on Covid-19 - AndrewBissell
https://www.propublica.org/article/senator-dumped-up-to-1-6-million-of-stock-after-reassuring-public-about-coronavirus-preparedness
======
a3n
I have submitted an insider trading complaint to the SEC,
[https://www.sec.gov/tcr](https://www.sec.gov/tcr)

In their list of categories describing the person being reported, Member of
Congress is not included.

In their list of categories describing the reporting person, Member of
Congress _is_ included.

Huh.

~~~
dugmartin
I believe congress is exempt from insider trading laws.

Edit: looks like I was wrong. Thanks for the links.

~~~
frizkie
According to the STOCK Act of 2012 [0], members of Congress are not exempt
from insider trading laws.

0:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STOCK_Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STOCK_Act)

~~~
jjeaff
And check out the only 3 senators that voted against the stock act... that's
right, this guy is on of them.

------
chatmasta
There is a rather amusing line in his wikipedia entry [0], given the current
context:

> In fall 2008, during that year's financial crisis, Burr said he was going to
> an ATM every day and taking out cash because he thought the financial system
> was going to soon collapse. In April 2009, in response to press about his
> experience, Burr told NC public radio station WFAE that he would do the same
> thing again next time.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Burr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Burr)

~~~
dk-
i've been pulling out my max cash withdrawal limit from cash machines every
day since we hit 10% down in the markets. of course cash is probably useless
when a bank run does happen, but it does give you a sense of safety and is
something you can simply redeposit.

------
AndrewBissell
My guess: regardless of which party wins the presidency in November, there
will be as much accountability for this senator and others like him as there
was for the George W. Bush administration officials who lied the country into
war and implemented a program of torture. That is to say, none whatsoever.

~~~
toomuchtodo
Fun fact: AOC and Ted Cruz have cosponsored legislation banning Congress folks
from lobbying for life. I’m unaware of the current status, but people still
work across the aisle and not all hope is lost. We must push on. This
(excellent) reporting by ProPublica is part of that.

~~~
AndrewBissell
The calls for the senator to face a grand jury coming from some Congresspeople
are encouraging. I'll still be pleasantly surprised if he serves a single day
in prison.

~~~
javagram
2 months ago a republican congressman was sentenced for insider trading, so
the SEC/FBI do catch these people sometimes
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/01/17/former-
re...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/01/17/former-rep-chris-
collins-be-sentenced-insider-trading-case/)

------
aazaa
> Burr was one of just three senators who in 2012 opposed the bill that
> explicitly barred lawmakers and their staff from using nonpublic information
> for trades and required regular disclosure of those trades. In opposing the
> bill, Burr argued at the time that insider trading laws already applied to
> members of Congress. President Barack Obama signed the bill, known as the
> STOCK Act, that year.

What a piece of work.

------
a3n
[Violent suggestion deleted.]

I believe the gentleman's actions should be submitted to the relevant ethics
committee.

Harumph.

------
AndrewBissell
This appears to have been quite a thing.

Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA): [https://www.thedailybeast.com/sen-kelly-loeffler-
dumped-mill...](https://www.thedailybeast.com/sen-kelly-loeffler-dumped-
millions-in-stock-after-coronavirus-briefing)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA):
[https://twitter.com/justinmclachlan/status/12408449876143882...](https://twitter.com/justinmclachlan/status/1240844987614388224?s=21)

------
true_religion
Just because he reports factual information about the market, does not mean he
has to believe those facts or even act upon them. Actors are allowed to be
irrational.

Furthermore, even were he to believe in the long term market prospects,
doesn’t mean that he has to continue taking the risk in the short term. It’s
okay to diversify your portfolio in a time of crisis, even if you have no
current knowledge that things will change for the worse. For all you know,
things will change for the better and you would miss out on gains because one
company you were not investing in did better than predicted.

~~~
quantified
As chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he had and has plenty of
current knowledge. He reports actual facts to donors/supporters and counter-
facts to the public. About what we all would expect from him.

------
ematvey
I might be missing something here, but how does the knowledge pandemic and
about the severity of the disease about qualify as insider information? I
guess this guy can be accused of not expressing his real beliefs to the public
(to contain the panic as he would surely argue), but that is not the same as
insider trading.

~~~
jjeaff
He did express his concerns about the economy to a small group of donors. He
also was one of only 3 senators to vote against the stock act, making things
like this illegal.

------
sixhobbits
This reminds me of Matt Levine's column from 16 March [0]

"Is the coronavirus securities fraud?

I wrote on Friday that, because everything is securities fraud, the novel
coronavirus is securities fraud"

[0]
[https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-16/market...](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-16/markets-
are-down-for-a-reason)

------
ramblerman
This seems like a witch hunt for what is a conflict of interest.

Either you have certain roles, i.e. members of congress, that can't hold
shares at all. Or you allow them to trade and then only go after very specific
insider trades. I.e. at a business to business level.

But going after an individual for "knowing" how the entire economy will move
is a stretch imo.

~~~
BoiledCabbage
Or you don't try to frame this as a false choice line you did here - and you
prosecute people listening to classified briefings and then immediately
illegally trading and benefiting from it.

------
alloutblitz85
Is this not insider trading? He made decisions based on info not available to
general public.

~~~
smabie
That's not the definition of insider trading.

~~~
mulmen
Ok, I’ll bite. If that is not the definition of insider trading what is?

~~~
microtherion
One additional element is that said information is obtained through privileged
access (i.e. you acquire it in an official capacity and are expected to keep
it confidential; if you overhear a random conversation, the information may
not be available to the general public, but you can still trade on it).

Pretty sure Burr's access to the information would qualify under this
definition.

------
icedchai
Smart guy. I'd be about 30% richer today if I did the same.

~~~
harry8
No you wouldn't. Everyone would be in your boat. He has info you did not which
is how he did it. It's not smart. It's just unscrupulous. It may also turn out
to be really, really dumb. At least I hope so.

~~~
icedchai
He can buy back in at a lower level and probably double his gains. You can't
say he made a bad decision.

~~~
harry8
Financially it could be, and i hope it is, a disaster. Insider trading is a
thing. Saying one thing about privileged information in public while trading
as though the opposite is true could well come back and bite him very, very
hard.

Dumb. Corrupt. Doesn't matter how common crime is for it to be worth
prosecuting.

If you did it on public info. Fine. Redistribution of wealth from those who
did not to you for being faster. If you did on information you then lied about
in public, in an official capacity. Rot in jail you crook.

Even if he "gets away with it" no sane individual would ever trust him with
anything ever again.

------
sunstone
The time to buy is when blood is dripping down your screen.

~~~
dk-
(blood is not dripping down your screen yet, wait for the layoffs and
bankruptcies and bailouts)

------
moneywoes
How is this legal

