Georgia Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her husband made $1.4 million in stock transactions amid the coronavirus panic, including a purchase of stock in a company that makes protective equipment.
Loeffler is one of at least four senators who traded stocks after receiving briefings on the coronavirus.
She and her husband took a loss on the stocks they held but were able to mitigate their losses before the stock market plummeted, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The couple bought $590,000 in stock and sold about $845,000 in stocks between February 18 and March 13, according to the report.
The move saved the couple $86,000 compared to the stock prices on March 31.
Loeffler invested in PPE company:
While the couple divested from a number of companies like T.J. Maxx and Lululemon, they bought stock in a company that manufactures protective equipment for the coronavirus, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Loeffler said that an investment firm manages her stocks and that she doesn’t have control over day-to-day decisions.
“Sen. Loeffler came to Washington on a promise to be a different kind of elected official,” spokeswoman Kerry Rom said. “She holds herself to high standards of ethics and transparency, including acting in accordance with both the letter and spirit of the law, which she has done at every step of her time in the Senate and in her lengthy career in financial services.”
Senate scandal grows:
Along with Loeffler, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, and Georgia Sen. David Perdue all made stock transactions ahead of the market tankings.
“This is why senators shouldn’t be doing this,” said Chester Spatt, a former economist at the Securities and Exchange Commission. The burden is on them to demonstrate they were not using insider information.”
Burr said he asked the Senate Ethics Committee to review his transactions and has had discussions with federal investigators.
It’s unclear what, if any, scrutiny the other senators will face.
