TRUMP ALLY QUITS SENATE INTEL PANEL OVER INSIDER TRADING QUIZ

Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina has temporarily left his chairmanship of the Senate Intelligence Committee after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized his cellular phone on Thursday, in connection with an inquiry into his alleged insider trading of stocks after receiving briefings on the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Burr, a Trump ally, was accused of selling off his holdings in a pharmaceutical company and profited from insider information in violation of stock market rules while the White House was playing down the impact of the pandemic.

In their May 14, 2020 (May 15 in Manila) story for the New York Times, Kati Benner and Nicholas Fandos said FBI agents seized Burr’s cellular phone to gather more evidence in their criminal investigation.

The seizure and an accompanying search for his electronic storage accounts, which were confirmed by an investigator briefed on the case, represented a significant escalation of the inquiry by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Benner and Fandos wrote. Burr sold the stock in mid-February before the market cratered and while he was receiving briefings and involved in conversations suggesting the country faced a burgeoning health crisis that could hurt the economy.