Congressman Sold Over 100 Stocks as Coronavirus Worsened
Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) is the latest elected official to raise eyebrows over their stock transactions after his financial records showed that he made a flurry of stock sales as the coronavirus pandemic worsened.
In January, Roe bought up stocks in companies that would later become valuable during the pandemic, those included the video-conferencing app Zoom, Amazon, the workplace app Slack and streaming service Roku.
Joe Ebert, the reporter for The Tennessean who authored the story on Roe’s stock moves outlined some of the more noteworthy transactions on Twitter.
In January, @drphilroe bought stock in lots of companies including @zoom @amazon @wayfair @slackHQ @roku @spotify
— Joel Ebert (@joelebert29) May 26, 2020
Ebert also noted that Roe also bought stock in medical companies that have since joined the rush for a coronavirus vaccine.
He also bought stock in several companies that are now working on COVID-19 tests or vaccines. Many of these companies have had their stocks skyrocket in recent weeks. They include @GileadSciences @veevasystems @CatalentPharma
— Joel Ebert (@joelebert29) May 26, 2020
On March 12, Roe appeared on Fox Business and mentioned Gilead Sciences — which is now working on a coronavirus vaccine. But Ebert notes that Roe never mentioned that he owned stock in the company.
On March 12, @drphilroe appeared on @foxbusiness. During his interview, he mentioned the name of @GileadSciences, a company working on a COVID-19 vaccine. What Roe didn’t mention: at the time he owned between $16,001 and $650,000 stock in the company.
— Joel Ebert (@joelebert29) May 26, 2020
Members of Congress’ stock trades first came under public scrutiny with Sens.Richard Burr (R- N.C.), Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
Burr has since found himself at the center of an FBI investigation and has stepped down from his post as Chairman of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee. He had previously announced that he would not run for re-election in 2022 when his term is up.
Loeffler has liquidated her stocks and the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the Department of Justice is closing their investigation into the Georgia senator.
Roe announced in January that he would not run for re-election in November, opening up a seat in deep red Trump country. At the time, the Tennessee senator said “As someone who practiced medicine for over 30 years, I said I would serve five or six terms because I never intended this job to be a second career,”
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