Sen. Kennedy: Insider trading claims against senators ‘very bad look,’ but ‘I don’t believe’ they did wrong
Sen. Kennedy doesn’t believe colleagues are guilty of insider trading
Senators accused of selling stocks before coronavirus crashed the market; Louisiana Senator John Kennedy reacts.
Senate Judiciary Committee member John Kennedy, R-La., said Friday he doesn’t believe the four senators whose recent stock transactions have come under scrutiny were doing anything intentionally untoward.
Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Kelly Loeffler R-Ga., sold large amounts of stock before the market crashed due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, leading to accusations of insider trading.
BURR, LOEFFLER SOLD MILLIONS IN STOCK BEFORE CORONAVIRUS MARKET CRASH
«I have read the same news reports that you have,» Kennedy told «The Story» host Martha MacCallum. «I have not talked with my four colleagues but each has an explanation. I know them pretty well. I don’t believe any one of them would intentionally trade on inside information.»
He added that Burr, who has received widespread criticism, should be commended for summarily calling for himself to be investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee when the story first broke.
«I suspect that the others will follow,» he said, adding that all Americans are innocent until proven guilty.
«Having said that,» Kennedy continued, «it is a very bad look.»
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He added that he has been in some of the same classified congressional briefings as the other senators involved in the allegations, but that nothing he heard sounded an alarm.
«If there was any insider information given out, I didn’t hear it,» Kennedy said.
Prior to Kennedy’s interview, Fox Business reporter Charles Gasparino told MacCallum that Loeffler has been criticized because her husband Jeffrey Sprecher is the chairman of the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). However, Gasparino said that if Loeffler knew «something really bad was going on with the virus,» she would have told Sprecher — as it took until Friday for the announcement that the trading floor will be shut down after two people were infected.
«That’s where I think we should be asking the questions more than whether this is insider trading,» he said.
Fox News’ Victor Garcia contributed to this report.
