The \”stock scandal\” involving senior officials in the U.S. intelligence community continues to unfold. Is the knowledge not reported or is the government deliberately downplaying it?

Recently, it was revealed that Richard Burr, the Republican U.S. Senator and Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sold a large amount of stocks before the outbreak of the epidemic and the stock market crash, which has been questioned.

At the same time, U.S. media revealed that intelligence agencies had issued multiple warnings to government departments in January and February this year, saying that the new coronavirus might cause a global crisis. Did Burr fail to report the seriousness of the epidemic, or did the U.S. government deliberately downplay the epidemic?

Many U.S. senators caused controversy by selling stocks before the outbreak

According to a secret recording recently exposed on the National Public Radio program, early Held on February 27 At a \”Capitol Hill Club\” luncheon, Burr privately warned some constituency residents with whom he was \”very close\” that the COVID-19 epidemic was much more serious than reported by the media and would be like \”the Great Depression of 1918.\” \”Flu\” spreads, so they prepare.

National Public Radio commented that Burr participated in drafting the U.S. epidemic response framework, but he has never released the same degree to the public since February. warn.

On February 7, Burr wrote in a column on the Fox News website: The United States is \”better prepared than ever\” to respond to the epidemic, and Congress has already formulated it. Legal Framework\”, the Trump administration is also actively responding to the COVID-19 epidemic.

In addition to not knowing the seriousness of the epidemic In addition to the report, it was also revealed that Burr used insider information to sell a large amount of stocks before the epidemic broke out and the stock market plummeted. The Washington Post reported that Senate disclosure documents showed that Burr and his wife sold stocks on February 13. 33 different stocks with a total value ranging from $628,000 to $1.7 million.

Subsequently, many U.S. senators were exposed to selling stocks before the U.S. stock market plummeted due to the spread of the new coronavirus epidemic.

According to reports, the U.S. Senate in January On the 24th, I listened to a closed-door briefing by White House officials on the risks of the outbreak. From then until the three major New York stock market indexes plummeted in late February, Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and James Inhofe and Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein each had net worths of hundreds of thousands. Stocks ranging from millions of dollars were sold.

The \”Stockgate\” incident triggered widespread criticism from American public opinion

After the actions of Burr and other members of Congress were exposed, the American media and netizens questioned their use of \”insider information\” to seek their own interests.

Cable News Network (CN) N) believes that as chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Burr received regular briefings on the threats facing the United States; Loeffler also participated in the senator\’s new crown pneumonia epidemic briefing on the day of selling stocks. It is obvious that when the new crown pneumonia becomes a global epidemic. Against the backdrop of the pandemic, these moves look really bad .

Walter Schaub, the former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, called for an investigation into the above-mentioned senator’s stock sales on social media. He said that while politicians are busy protecting their personal interests, ordinary Americans are not. is suffering

The Washington Post of the United States. News columnist Jennifer Rubin commented that Burr had two major \”moral crimes\”: one was to conceal the seriousness of the new coronavirus epidemic from the public, and the other was to make profits from it. She said that Burr\’s \”stock scandal\” could not help but make money. People wonder why Washington insisted on downplaying the risk of the epidemic in the first place

United States 201.A law was introduced in 2019 to prohibit members of Congress and staff from using non-public information for personal gain. US media reported that a total of three senators voted against the bill that year, including Burr, and he is the only one of the three who is still serving as a senator.

In response to this, Burr responded on social media that he made the stock sale decision based on public news reports and expressed his willingness to accept a comprehensive review by the Senate Ethics Committee. Loeffler said related investment decisions are made by third-party advisors.

But this explanation is more like a pale defense and cannot convince the media and netizens.

Regarding Burr and Loeffler’s stock selling behavior, netizens called them the worst thing to do to benefit from people’s pain and death, and it is even more illegal to use insider trading for trading.

Netizen: \”He benefited from the pain and death of the American people and the people of the world. This is the worst thing I have seen so far.\” ↓↓↓

Netizen: \”Burr must resign, as does Feinstein, and those who have engaged in insider trading. \”↓↓↓

Netizen: \”Burr should be investigated\” ↓↓↓

Netizen: \”If you benefit from this non-public information, it is illegal to sell stocks. Get off social media and find a lawyer. . You’re going to jail.”↓↓↓

Netizen: \”Another corrupt politician\” ↓↓↓

Netizen: \”Burr sold significantly more stocks than usual.\” ↓↓↓

US media pointed out that the intelligence agency had already warned But the government didn’t listen

As the incident continues to ferment, more inside stories are exposed. On March 20, US media reported that in fact, the US intelligence agencies and health departments had issued multiple warning reports to the White House from January to February, saying that the new coronavirus may pose a global threat. However, US President Trump and his government officials downplayed the seriousness of the epidemic and failed to take action to control the spread of the epidemic in a timely manner. The public is demanding answers as to whether the officials knew the information and failed to report it, or the government deliberately ignored the important issues.

The US \”Washington Post\” reported that as early as January and February this year, reports issued by intelligence agencies showed that the new coronavirus has the potential to become a global epidemic. characteristics that may require prompt government action to contain them. Despite the reports, Trump continued to downplay the threat of the virus to the American people, both publicly and privately, and lawmakers did not begin to seriously address the outbreak until this month.

The report quoted an anonymous U.S. official as saying that he obtained the reports and distributed them to members of Congress, staff, and Trump administration officials.

In early February, officials were concerned that there were not enough virus tests in the United States to determine infection rates. They began calling for a stronger government response, according to people briefed on the White House meeting.

But Trump rejected this and continued to assure the American people that the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic would not be \”as rampant as it is in other countries.\” He also stated on social media that \”the epidemic has been contained in the United States.\” Control. In my opinion, the stock market is also starting to look good.\”

Real-time statistics released by Johns Hopkins University in the United States show that as of 7:00 on March 21, Beijing time, a total of 18,563 confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia and 227 deaths have been reported in the United States. As for the stock market, the three major stock indexes in the New York stock market plummeted on February 24 due to concerns about the spread of the epidemic. Since then, the U.S. stock market has continued to fluctuate, plummeting several times and triggering the circuit breaker mechanism.