WASHINGTON — A court order to unseal documents relating to an insider trading investigation involving Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) has revealed profits that he made in 2020.
On Tuesday, these documents were released by a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Burr was investigated by the FBI early on in the COVID-19 pandemic and was accused of using insider trading to make profits. The investigation revealed Burr did no wrongdoing in his trading.
The documents show that Burr earned over $164,000 as a result of selling stock in January and February 2020 shortly before the market plummeted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Burr sold about 95 percent of his holdings in an account during this time, according to court records. Gerald Fauth, Burr's brother-in-law, conducted similar actions after briefly speaking with Burr on the phone, according to court records.
Days after Burr and Fauth's sales, the pandemic caused a massive downturn in the stock market. The sales prevented Burr and Fauth from suffering massive financial losses.
This activity caused the Department of Justice to look into Burr's activity in May 2020 on suspicion of insider trading and securities fraud, according to court records.
On Twitter, Burr stated he made the sales after closely following news reports about COVID-19 and observing the epidemic in China in early 2020.
Regardless, he stepped down as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in May 2020 after the investigation was made public.
The investigation concluded in January 2021 with no charges being filed against Burr.
Much of the information regarding the investigation was withheld from public view until a push by The Los Angeles Times to publicize the materials.
The publication entered a legal battle with the District of Columbia federal court for the records to be unsealed in February 2021.
On Aug. 29, a federal judge moved to have the documents unsealed, while third-party interviews and law enforcement tactics would still be blacked out of the documents.
The documents concerning the investigation have now been made public and show Burr's activity that led up to the federal probe.