"Richard Burr to Step Down as Intelligence Committee Chairman
Republican Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina is stepping aside as chairman of the influential Senate Intelligence Committee while he's under investigation for stock trades he made ahead of the market downturn sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement Thursday that Burr "contacted me this morning to inform me of his decision to step aside as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee during the pendency of the investigation." He said Burr's resignation as chairman will be effective at the end of the day on Friday.
Burr's decision to step aside as chairman is a stunning development for the North Carolina Republican, who has led the Senate Intelligence Committee through its three-year investigation into Russian election interference that is nearing its completion.
Shortly after McConnell's announcement, Burr told reporters he is resigning as intelligence chair because "this is a disrtaction to the hard work of the committee and the members and I think the security of the country is too important to have any distractions."
Burr also said he has been cooperating with investigators "since the beginning" and will let the investigation play out. He stepped down after the FBI served his lawyer with a search warrant and Burr surrendered his phone Wednesday, a senior Justice Department official told CNN. The use of the search warrant had been signed off at the highest levels of the Justice Department, as is protocol, the official said. The Los Angeles Times first reported the warrant.
It's not immediately clear who will take over as chairman of the committee. Committee members Senators Jim Risch of Idaho, Marco Rubio of Florida and Susan Collins of Maine are next in line in seniority, though all currently lead other committees.
Senate Republicans reacted cautiously to the news of Burr's search warrant on Thursday, saying the matter of his chairmanship was between Burr and McConnell. "There's due process he deserves like everybody else that he'll be going through, but I think ultimately that's a conversation probably between him and the leader," said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate's No. 2 Republican.
McConnell did not respond to questions about Burr in the Capitol on Thursday. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, also declined to weigh in ahead of the news Burr would step aside.
Burr came under fire in March when it was first disclosed that he and his wife made nearly three dozen stock trades worth between $628,000 and $1.7 million on a single day, February 13, representing a significant portion of his stock portfolio.
As chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Burr has received classified briefings on the coronavirus outbreak in addition to closed-door briefings all senators had access to as the virus spread. Burr has said that he made the trades using only publicly available information, not classified briefings. But he asked the Senate Ethics Committee to review the sales in March.
Congress passed the Stock Act in 2012, which explicitly made it illegal for members of Congress to trade stocks with inside information. There's no public evidence that Burr broke the law or violated Senate rules with the trades.
In addition to the trades Burr made on February 13, the senator's brother-in-law, Gerald Fauth, sold six stocks worth between $97,000 and $280,000 on the same day as Burr. Fauth is a member of the National Mediation Board, which deals with aviation and rail commerce. Burr's attorney, Alice Fisher, said last week that Burr did not coordinate his trades with Fauth. Burr's attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
Burr's fellow North Carolina senator, Republican Thom Tillis, who is up for reelection in 2020, declined to weigh in on whether Burr should step down as intel chairman on Thursday, saying that "is something between the senator, Burr, and the leader." Later, in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Tillis said, "I do believe as I said before he owes us all an explanation and I was well aware of the fact that an investigation is moving forward, we just need to see where the investigation ends."
Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, said on CNN's "Newsroom" that the trades "bear further investigation. ... - Senator Burr has called for further investigation, he feels like everything was in the up-and-up and he'll be exonerated," Cassidy said. "I have not read anything but the headline, but it's important that the American people have faith in Congress and that's part of it. Richard welcomes that; I welcome that."
Schumer said on CNBC Thursday that it was "premature" for him to comment on the investigation into Burr. "I don't own any stocks. I've told my colleagues in the Senate at the very least it creates the appearance of a conflict, so it's better not to own any. But I cannot comment on Burr until I know the details," Schumer said.
Senate Republican conference rules state that chairs should step down if they are indicted, but the rules do make reference to senators who are under investigation. Senator Bob Martinez, a New Jersey Democrat, stepped down as ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2015 after he was indicted. He returned to that post in 2018 after the Justice Department dropped the corruption charges against him.
In March, CNN reported the FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission had contacted Burr as part of a probe into stock trades made by lawmakers surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. Burr has declined to discuss the situation when asked about his trades in the Capitol. "I am not talking about any of that. Thanks, though," he said Tuesday when asked to comment on the trades his brother-in-law made. "
Senator Richard Burr, Republican, North Carolina
******* After reading the above, read the article below from March 19, 2020 *******
Source: WBUR radio - NPR - Written by Tim Mak; with contributions by Huo Jingnan, Barbara Van Woerkom and Meg Anderson; published at 4:15 am EDT; updated at 11:28 pm EDT at 19 March 2020
"Weeks Before Virus Panic, Intelligence Chairman Privately Raised Alarm, Sold Stocks
The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned a small group of well-connected constituents three weeks ago to prepare for dire economic and societal effects of the coronavirus, according to a secret recording obtained by NPR. The remarks from U.S. Senator Richard Burr were more stark than any he had delivered in more public forums.
On Feb. 27, when the United States had 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19, President Trump was tamping down fears and suggesting that the virus could be seasonal. "It's going to disappear. One day, it's like a miracle. It will disappear," the president said then, before adding,"it could get worse before it gets better. It could maybe go away. We'll see what happens."
On that same day, Burr attended a luncheon held at a social club called the Capitol Hill Club. And he delivered a much more alarming message. "There's one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything we have seen in recent history," he said, according to a secret recording of the remarks obtained by NPR. "It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic."
The luncheon had been organized by the Tar Heel Circle, a nonpartisan group whose membership consists of businesses and organizations in North Carolina, the state Burr represents. Membership to join the Tar Heel Circle costs between $500 and $10,000 and promises members "enjoy interaction with top leaders and staff from Congress, the administration, and the private sector," according to the group's website.
In attendance, according to a copy of the RSVP list obtained by NPR, were dozens of invited guests representing companies and organizations from North Carolina. And according to federal records, those companies or their political committees donated more than $100,000 to Burr's election campaign in 2015 and 2016. (Burr announced previously he was not planning to run for reelection in 2022.)
The message Burr delivered was dire. Thirteen days before the State Department began to warn against travel to Europe, and 15 days before the Trump administration banned European travelers, Burr warned those in the room to reconsider. "Every company should be cognizant of the fact that you may have to alter your travel. You may have to look at your employees and judge whetehr the trip they're making to Europe is essential or whether it can be done on video conference. Why risk it?" Burr said.
Sixteen days before North Carolina closed its schools over the threat of the coronavirus, Burr warned it could happen. "There will be, I'm sure, times that communities, probably some in North Carolina, have a transmission rate where they say, 'Let's close schools for two weeks. Everybody stay at home,'" he said.
And Burr invoked the possibility that the military might be mobilized to combat the coronavirus. Only now, three weeks later, is the public learning of that prospect. "We're going to send a military hospital there; it's going to be done in tents and going to be set up on the ground somewhere," Burr said at the luncheon. "It's going to be a decision the president and DOD make. And we're going to have medical professionals supplemented by local staff to treat people that need treatment."
Burr has a unique perspective on the government's response to a pandemic, and not just because of his role as Intelligence Committee chairman. He helped to write the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA), which forms the framework for the federal response. But in his public comments about the threat of COVID-19, Burr never offered the kind o f precise warning that he delivered to the small group of his constituents.
On Feb. 7, Burr co-authored an op-ed that laid out the tools that the U.S. government had at its disposal to fight COVID-19. "Luckily, we have the framework in place that has put us in a better position than any other country to respond to a public health threat, like the coronavirus," Burr said in a statement on March 5.
He pressed a CC official in early March as to why the nation's pandemic surveillance capabilities had fallen short despite the millions in funding he had helped secure for that purpose through PAHPA. But despite his longtime interest in biohazard threats, his expertise on the subject, and his role as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Burr did not warn the public of the government actions he thought might become necessary, as he did at the luncheon on Feb. 27.
Burr's office did not directly respond to a list of questions sent by NPR.
His spokesperson Caitlin Carroll provided a statement that stressed Burr's decades-long interest in public health preparedness. "Since early February, whether in constituent meetings or open hearings, he has worked to educate the public about the tools and resources our government has to confront the spread of coronavirus," Carroll wrote. "At the same time, he has urged public officials to fully utilize every tool at their disposal in this effort. Every American should take this threat seriously and should follow the latest guidelines from the CDC and state officials."
One public health expert told NPR that early warnings about a coming health crisis and its effects could have made a difference just a few weeks ago. "In the interest of public health, we actually need to involve the public. It's right there in the name. And being transparent, being as clear as possible is very important," said Jason Silverstein, who lectures at the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
On Thursday, Senator Burr took to Twitter and called NPR's reporting on the matter a "tabloid-style hit piece." He also raises cases in which other individuals - not him - warned the public about a possible coming Coronavirus health crisis.
Meanwhile, ProPublica released a report Thursday evening showing that Burr had unloaded a substantial amount of stocks in mid-February, before the recent market volatility. Burr sold personal stocks worth between $628,000 and $1.72 million in 33 separate transactions on a single day, February 13th, according to public disclosures. It was, according to ProPublica, the most stock he's sold in a single day in 14 months.
Asked by NPR for a comment on the senator's stock sales, Burr spokesperson Carroll replied, "lol." Carroll later reached out to say that the 'lol' remark was meant to express displeasure with NPR's earlier characterizations and not intended as an on-the-record response.
She also provided a formal statement. "Senator Burr filed a financial disclosure form for personal transactions made several weeks before the U.S. and financial markets showed signs of volatility due to the growing coronavirus outbreak," Carroll said. "as the situation continues to evolve daily, he has been deeply concerned by the steep and sudden toll this pandemic is taking on our economy."
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