{"id":186,"date":"2020-03-20T15:30:45","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T15:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press-releases\/doj-sec-and-ethics-complaints-filed-against-senator-loeffler\/"},"modified":"2020-03-20T15:30:45","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T15:30:45","slug":"doj-sec-and-ethics-complaints-filed-against-senator-loeffler","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press\/doj-sec-and-ethics-complaints-filed-against-senator-loeffler\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ, SEC and Ethics Complaints Filed Against Senator Loeffler"},"template":"","class_list":["post-186","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Today, Common Cause filed complaints calling for investigations of Sen. Kelly Loeffler. \u201cVoters have the right to expect that our elected officials put our interests first,\u201d said Common Cause Georgia Program Coordinator Cindy Battles. \u201cAnd there shouldn\u2019t be any question about it. Obviously, in this situation, there are questions about how Sen. Loeffler handled the information received in private briefings. There are also questions about whether she should have shared that information with her constituents, back in January when she received it. We look forward to the results of these investigations.\u201d","featured_image":"","press_type":145,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":8376}",null],"related_issues":[92,105,402],"related_work":false,"location":13},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"Today, Common Cause filed complaints calling for investigations of Sen. Kelly Loeffler.<\/strong> \u201cVoters have the right to expect that our elected officials put our interests first,\u201d said Common Cause Georgia Program Coordinator Cindy Battles<\/strong>. \u201cAnd there shouldn\u2019t be any question about it. Obviously, in this situation, there are questions about how Sen. Loeffler handled the information received in private briefings. There are also questions about whether she should have shared that information with her constituents, back in January when she received it. We look forward to the results of these investigations.\u201d\r\n\r\nBelow is the release Common Cause sent out nationally.\r\n

DOJ, SEC & Ethics Complaints Filed Against Senators Burr, Feinstein, Loeffler & Inhofe for Possible Insider Trading & STOCK Act Violations<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nToday, Common Cause filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC,) and the Senate Ethics Committee calling for immediate investigations of Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), and James Inhofe (R-OK) for possible violations of the STOCK Act and insider trading laws. According to widespread reports, each of the Senators sold off significant amounts of stock from the personal portfolios after receiving classified briefings from government officials about the seriousness of the Coronavirus threat to the United States in January and February.\r\n\r\nAccording to widespread<\/a> media<\/a>\u00a0reports<\/a>, each of these Senators were warned of the potentially catastrophic impact of the Coronavirus in classified briefings and subsequently dumped significant amounts of stock ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars. All these trades were made well in advance of the stock market collapse triggered by the spread of the Coronavirus and its related economic disruptions.\r\n\r\nAfter dumping his own stock, Senator Burr warned a February 27th gathering of influential constituents and donors of the seriousness of the possible public health and financial impacts of the Coronavirus in the United States at a time when the White House was downplaying the threat of the virus to the nation and the stock market was unaffected. In a recording of that gathering<\/a> on Capitol Hill obtained by NPR, Senator Burr likened the Coronavirus to the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic which killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide, including 675,000 in the United States.\r\n\r\nThe STOCK Act affirms that members of Congress are not exempt from insider trading laws and states that Senators \u201cmay not use nonpublic information derived from such person's position as a Member of Congress \u2026 or gained from the performance of such person's official responsibilities as a means for making a private profit.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe Securities Exchange Act prohibits the use of \u201cany manipulative or deceptive device or contrivance\u201d in connection with the purchase or sale of stocks. Securities and Exchange Commission Rules prohibit \u201cany manipulative or deceptive device or contrivance\u201d as well as \u201cany device, scheme, or artifice to defraud\u201d in connection with a stock trade. Securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud are prohibited under the United States Criminal Code and violations can result in fines and up to 25 years in prison.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe American people expect and deserve leaders who look after the interests of the people before their own personal interests,\u201d said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause. \u201cThese potential violations of insider trading laws and the STOCK Act by these Senators, outlined in widespread media reports, show what appears to be contempt for the law and further a contempt for the American people these Senators have sworn to serve. Situations like these are exactly why Common Cause fought to help pass the STOCK Act, to prevent government officials abusing their power for their personal profit.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cThese allegations of potentially criminal misconduct by these Senators warrant full investigations by the DOJ, the SEC and the Senate Ethics Committee,\u201d said Paul S. Ryan, Common Cause Vice President for Policy and Litigation. \u201cThese Senators appear to have used classified intelligence briefings as stock tips and sold off significant holdings to avoid losses in the markets. These laws are on the books for a good reason, without them the potential to abuse the power of elected office for personal enrichment would be virtually unlimited.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cSenator Burr\u2019s stock selloff raises deeply troubling questions and should be thoroughly investigated,\u201d said Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina. \u201cThe American people deserve to have absolute confidence that members of Congress are not using their office to illegally benefit themselves in a time of national crisis. Senator Burr owes the general public and his constituents in North Carolina a complete and transparent explanation of his stock sales. If the accusations against him are true, Senator Burr must resign.\u201d\r\n\r\nTo read the DOJ complaint, click here<\/a>.\r\nTo read the SEC complaint, click here<\/a>.\r\nTo read the Ethics Committee complaint, click here<\/a>.\r\nTo view this release online, click here<\/a>."}}]},"yoast_head":"\nDOJ, SEC and Ethics Complaints Filed Against Senator Loeffler - Common Cause Georgia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press-releases\/doj-sec-and-ethics-complaints-filed-against-senator-loeffler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DOJ, SEC and Ethics Complaints Filed Against Senator Loeffler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press\/doj-sec-and-ethics-complaints-filed-against-senator-loeffler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Georgia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press-releases\/doj-sec-and-ethics-complaints-filed-against-senator-loeffler\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press-releases\/doj-sec-and-ethics-complaints-filed-against-senator-loeffler\/\",\"name\":\"DOJ, SEC and Ethics Complaints Filed Against Senator Loeffler - 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