New judicial ruling creates fresh headache for GOP's Richard Burr in insider trading probe
On Thursday, the Winston-Salem Journalreported that a federal judge has ordered the brother-in-law of Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) to comply with a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"The interview by Gerald Fauth with the SEC could be held by the end of the month, and that Fauth could be held in contempt for noncompliance," reported Richard Craver. "The SEC launched an investigation on March 25, 2020, to determine whether Burr violated insider trading laws with stock trades, particularly those made along with his wife, Brooke, on Feb. 13, 2020."
Burr is accused of using his advanced knowledge of the COVID-19 pandemic from Senate reports to make stock trading decisions. Per the report, SEC filings state that on Feb. 13, 2020 Burr "possessed material nonpublic information concerning COVID-19 and its potential impact on the U.S. and global economies."
The Justice Department closed out the matter in January without filing charges, but the SEC is still investigating. A ProPublica investigation last month revealed that Fauth called his stock broker just one minute after getting off the phone with Burr.
The editorial board of the Charlotte Observer has called on Burr to resign over the scandal, writing, "Regardless of whether the SEC concludes that his actions were criminal, he has failed as a public servant, profiting off of a deadly virus while failing to convey to the public the seriousness of the threat it posed."
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