Tucker Carlson and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are suddenly on the same page after reports that Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) had inside knowledge of how bad the coronavirus pandemic would be, assured the public otherwise, then dumped about a million dollars worth of stock, much of it in the now-struggling hospitality sector, shortly before the market crashed.
ProPublica broke the story about Burr’s stock sales.
As the head of the intelligence committee, Burr, a North Carolina Republican, has access to the government’s most highly classified information about threats to America’s security. His committee was receiving daily coronavirus briefings around this time, according to a Reuters story.
A week after Burr’s sales, the stock market began a sharp decline and has lost about 30% since.
On Thursday, Burr came under fire after NPR obtained a secret recording from Feb. 27, in which the lawmaker gave a VIP group at an exclusive social club a much more dire preview of the economic impact of the coronavirus than what he had told the public.
Last night, Tucker Carlson excoriated Burr in a commentary I agree with. More significantly, as Crooks and Liars noted, so does AOC!
CARLSON: You may have seen the news reports this afternoon. The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee sold more than a million dollars of stock in mid-February after learning how devastating the Chinese coronavirus would be. He had inside information about what could happen to our country, which is now happening, but he didn't warn the public. He didn't give a prime time address. He didn't go on television to sound the alarm. He didn't even disavow an op-ed he had written just 10 days before claiming that 'America was better prepared than ever for coronavirus.' He didn't do any of those things.
Instead, what did he do? He dumped his shares in hotel stocks so he wouldn't lose money. And then he stayed silent. Now maybe there’s an honest explanation for what he did. If there is, he should share it with the rest of us immediately. Otherwise, he must resign from the Senate and face prosecution for insider trading. There is no greater moral crime than betraying your country in a time of crisis - and that appears to be what happened.
Maybe I’ve spent too much time watching Carlson but color me skeptical about this selective concern for corruption. Donald Trump has blatantly engaged in corrupt behavior since the day he took office. Recently, he demonstrated what was really top of mind when, on official duty, he toured tornado damage in Tennessee and held a coronavirus press briefing in a campaign hat. I have yet to hear a peep out of Carlson about any of Trump’s corruption. If I missed any such peeps, let me know.
Also, Burr has faced the wrath of Trump and his son, so this may be the kind of GOP-on-GOP fight that has the Fox/Trump blessing.
But I’ll give Carlson props regardless. It may be the first time but let’s hope it's not the last.
You can watch his comments below, from the March 19, 2020 Tucker Carlson Tonight, via Crooks and Liars.
http://www.newshounds.us/don_t_let_tucker_carlson_s_attack_on_burr_distract_nationalist_extremism_032020
Carlson is correct in pointing out the obvious criminality in what Burr has done here. Unless Burr has some way to explain his behavior here, this would fall under the classification of “Felony”.
At the same time, Carlson is teeing off on an easy target and frankly a distraction during a major crisis for both the Pence White House and its various sycophants at Fox News and AM Radio. Burr’s self-dealing here should be prosecuted, but it’s small potatoes next to the viciousness and incompetence of the Pence White House. And it’s even smaller potatoes next to the demonstrated craven spin from propaganda outlets like Fox News.