A week before the U.S. stock market started to slump, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr sold off a significant portion of his portfolio — while reassuring the public that the nation was prepared for a pandemic.
The Republican is the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and received classified briefings about the coronavirus, which has critics wondering if he used that information illegally. NPR also reported on a secretly-recorded talkBurr gave to a luncheon of donors about the coronavirus outbreak. The senator shared dire warnings of the impacts of the virus. Meanwhile his public comments about the virus did not convey the same urgency. Host Anita Rao talks to WUNC Capitol Bureau Chief Jeff Tiberiiabout this controversy and about the role of Burr in the passage of a relief bill on Capitol Hill.