WASHINGTON _ U.S. Sen. Richard Burr sold up to $1.5 million in stocks, including hotel chains, in mid-February weeks before he warned a private group that the coronavirus was "akin to the 1918 pandemic" and warned it to rethink European travel.
The stock sales Feb. 13 were reflected on a financial disclosure form filed with the Senate on Feb. 27, the same day he spoke to members of the Tar Heel Circle, a high-dollar membership organization that is part of the North Carolina State Society of Washington, D.C. ProPublica and the Center for Responsive Politics first reported the stock sales. NPR first reported Burr's comments.
Burr, a North Carolina Republican, is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The committee was receiving daily updates on the coronavirus outbreak by late February, Reuters reported at the time.
