Sen. Richard Burr will step down as Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee while the FBI investigates his stock trades
North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr will step down as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee while being investigated for a series of stock transactions he made earlier this year, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday.
Burr is the chairman of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, which has access to the federal government's most classified and sensitive information. A source familiar with the matter told CNN his committee did not get a briefing the week he sold his stocks., Burr — along with Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee — acknowledged that "Americans are rightfully concerned about the coronavirus" at a time when the number of cases in China was still skyrocketing.
Burr defended his actions the day after ProPublica first reported on the stock sales, saying in a statement, "I relied solely on public news reports to guide my decision regarding the sale of stocks on February 13. Specifically, I closely followed CNBC's daily health and science reporting out of its Asia bureaus at the time."
"Every company should be cognizant of the fact that you may have to alter your travel," Burr added. "You may have to look at your employees and judge whether the trip they're making to Europe is essential or whether it could be done on video conference. Why risk it?"
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