MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., is asking for an ethics probe in response to criticism that he sold off as much as $1.7 million in stocks just before the market dropped in February amid coronavirus fears.
Senate records show that Burr and his wife sold between roughly $600,000 and $1.7 million in more than 30 separate transactions in late January and mid-February, just before the market began to fall and as government health officials began to issue stark warnings about the effects of the virus. Several of the stocks were in companies that own hotels.
In a statement Friday morning, Burr said he had asked for the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate the matter, "understanding the assumption many cou
