Loeffler stock trades roil Georgia special election

One of Kelly Loeffler’s most appealing traits to Republicans who embraced her for a coveted Senate appointment — her ability to self-fund a competitive election this fall through immense wealth — is suddenly looking like a serious liability for her and the GOP.

Loeffler’s rivals in a special election pounced on revelations that the recently appointed senator dumped millions of dollars in stocks after a classified Covid-19 briefing in January — damaging her bid against a formidable GOP opponent in Rep. Doug Collins, a close ally of President Donald Trump. Collins is seizing on the stock trades by Loeffler, who’s married to the head of the New York Stock Exchange.

Collins told POLITICO in an interview Friday that Loeffler needs “to explain to Georgians and Americans what happened here, and why it happened.”

“To have sold and then bought stocks that benefit them personally is just very, very frustrating,” Collins said. "And it's very disheartening for those of us who have been in public service."

“This is just not something you want to see, being perceived as profiting off a crisis,” Collins added, though he did not call on her to resign or face an Senate Ethics Committee investigation.

She reported selling between nearly $1.3 million and $3.1 million worth of stocks owned jointly with her husband between late January and mid-February. She also reported jointly purchasing between $200,000 and $500,000 of stock in two technology companies.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/21/loeffler-stock-trades-roil-georgia-special-election-140088