Republican senator Kelly Loeffler vows she will NOT drop out despite Justice Department probe into dumping shares after secret coronavirus briefings
- She called questions about her stock trades an attack by the ‘liberal media’
- She is fighting for her political career after selling off $2 million in stock ahead of coronavirus pandemic
- She said she would win her race
- She faces a primary from GOP Rep. Doug Collins, who says Loeffler is ‘working for herself’
- Her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, is the CEO of International Exchange
- Has provided documents to the FBI and SEC but won’t say if she’s been interviewed
- Sen. Richard Burr stepped away from Senate Intel panel amid probe of his trades
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Embattled Georgia Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler is vowing to stay in her race for reelection and predicting she will win in an interview where she wouldn’t confirm if she has been contacted by the FBI about her stock trades.
Loeffler made the claim in an extended interview as she faces increased scrutiny for her $2 million in trades after getting a closed briefed about the coronavirus. She continues to lash out at the press, including in a new ad that calls the media ‘trash.’
‘Not only am I not dropping out, but I’m going to win,’ Loeffler told Politico Thursday.
‘Not only am I not dropping out, but I’m going to win,’ said Sen. Kelly Loeffler, whose $2 million in stock trades are under scrutiny as the FBI investigates lawmakers who sold shares
‘And no one’s going to intimidate me into thinking that that’s the right course for our party, for our state, for our country. I’m working hard to help reelect the president,’ she said. ‘I’m working hard to win my seat and keep the Senate in Republican hands.’
Loeffler, who was appointed by the state’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, chalked up a series of reports on her trades to the ‘liberal media attacking someone who supports free enterprise.’
‘I’m not going to be deterred by it,’ she added.
Her ad released Thursday makes a similar point. ‘In my opinion, the media is just trash,’ says a grandmother identified as ‘Mary.’ The ‘media does not want you to know the truth,’ says ‘Bo,’ a Vietnam vet, in another ad.
Senator Kelly Loeffler & husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, who is the chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, the company that owns the New York Stock Exchange
‘Socialist attack’: Primary challenger Rep. Doug Collins, a conservative firebrand, has blasted Loeffler for the stock sales
Loeffler is pictured here with President Trump
Loeffler is also getting scrutiny from her conservative GOP rival, Rep. Doug Collins.
‘Instead of working for the people of Georgia for the past five months in D.C., she seems to have been working for herself,’ he said.
Loeffler got a $9 million golden parachute when she left her job to join the U.S. Senate – at a company where her husband is the CEO, it the New York Times revealed earlier this month.
She is one of the richest people ever to serve in the Senate.
She made a series of market moves with funds she secured in part after getting the generous parting package from her employer, Intercontinental Exchange, the company that owns the New York Stock Exchange. Her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, is the CEO of the company.
Loeffler and her husband traded millions in stocks in the days after a closed Senate briefing on the coronavirus – and dumped holdings in retail stores that have been battered by the pandemic.
She sold off 27 stocks – valued at between $1.275 million and $3.1 million – starting in late January until mid-February.
She wouldn’t comment on whether the FBI has contacted her.
Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina stepped away from his post chairing the Senate Intel panel amid probe of his own trades. The move came after the FBI seized Burr’s cell phone as part of its investigation into potential insider trading. The STOCK Act requires lawmakers to disclose their trades.