‘Substantial profits’ made off of opioid epidemic by GOP senator in Georgia runoff election: report

On Thursday, 11Alive news reported yet another oddly timed series of stock trades by Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) — this time related to the opioid crisis — and that Perdue made "substantial profits" on the transactions.

"Nearly five years ago, the US Senate judiciary committee convened to take its first hard look at the opioid crisis," reported Doug Richards. "It was January 27, 2016.  Seven days before the hearing, [Perdue] bought more than a thousand dollars worth of stock in a medical device company called Halyard Health. One of Halyard’s specialties was pain management alternatives to opioids."

According to the report, Perdue did not attend that specific hearing. However, "Four times in the week prior to the January 27 opioids hearing — on January 20, 21, 25, and 26 — records show Perdue made four separate purchases of Halyard stock — valued between  $4004 and $60,000. Congressional records are deliberately vague about exact values. And Perdue kept buying. Records show he bought the same company’s stock six more times through the end of February 2016.  Altogether, his Halyard stock purchases were valued at up to $150,000, according to congressional records."

Perdue has faced a storm of questions surrounding stock trades as he heads into a runoff election against Democrat Jon Ossoff that could decide control of the Senate. Records also show that he bought stock in the tech-banking firm Cardlytics ahead of big stock price changes he may have had knowledge of, and that he also made stock trades off a company that manufactures nuclear submarine equipment while chairing a subcommittee that steered defense contracts.