Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) has insisted that she did not do anything wrong when she dumped stocks as the coronavirus worsened and she continued on that line of defense in a Fox News interview when she called criticism of her trades a “socialist attack.”
Speaking on Fox News on Friday, Loeffler said, “This is a political attack that is designed to distract from the issue at hand and to use to this outbreak to play politics. We have addressed this and taken extraordinary measures to make sure that we can’t be attacked for our success.”
She continued:
“This gets to the very heart of why I came to Washington — to defend free enterprise, to defend capitalism and this is a socialist attack. We have taken extraordinary measures and I am focused solely on working for Georgians. I’ve been doing that seven days a week, around the clock and it’s my honor to be here and serve and that’s why I stepped out of the private sector.”
Loeffler said that she is liquidating her stocks after allegations that she used non-public information to dump stocks before the coronavirus pandemic worsened in the United States.
Asked about that step, she said, “We’ve taken extraordinary measures to take that off the table as an attack area and we’re done with it. We’re moving on.”
"We have taken extraordinary measures to make sure that we can't be attacked for our success … this is a socialist attack" — Fox News just had @SenatorLoeffler on for an interview and the one question they asked her about her coronavirus stock selling scandal was a softball pic.twitter.com/jNK3O0tK7K
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2020
Loeffler dumped millions in stocks at the same time that she and other senators were receiving private coronavirus briefings. She also purchased stocks in companies that make protective gear, for which demand has surged during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Georgia senator has insisted that the trades were made by a third-party and that she was not informed of them until later.
But some Republicans in Georgia are not buying her defense. Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga), who is running for Loeffler’s Senate seat, accused her of “profiting off [people’s] pain.”
