AJC: Loeffler “Has Provided No Proof” She Had No Control Over Coronavirus Stock Trades as “Questions Remain”

After new Loeffler disclosures reveal further sell-offs and key purchases ahead of market crash, AJC calls out Loeffler’s lack of evidence in her favor

Senate Majority Leader “declined to respond” when asked if he still supports the appointed Loeffler in November election

ATLANTA — Unelected “political mega-donor” Senator Kelly Loeffler has spent the last two weeks desperately denying any responsibility for her own stock trades and instead pushing them off on to unnamed brokers. Yet, as the AJC notes in a new report today, “Loeffler has provided no proof that financial advisers making stock transactions on her behalf have total control over decision-making.”

Not only will Loeffler not provide any evidence about the level of her control over her own stock trading, but she also refuses to say “how her portfolio is managed and who does that work” and “won’t name her advisers or say what company they work for.” Instead, even as “questions remain” about her scandal, Loeffler insists that Georgia voters trust her without evidence while still refusing to follow Senator Richard Burr’s example and call for a Senate Ethics Committee investigation.

This lack of evidence follows new disclosures this week that showed Loeffler and her husband sold off even more stock before the market tanked, including shares in a travel booking firm, while investing “in a company that makes COVID-19 protective garments” — and after a newly launched probe by the DOJ and the SEC into Senators’ stock trading. Her scandal has become so toxic that fellow Republicans are now calling for her resignation as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to say whether or not he still supports her.

Read the latest from the AJC about Loeffler’s stock sell-off scandal:

AJC: Questions remain about who is handling Kelly Loeffler’s stock transactions

• U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler has provided no proof that financial advisers making stock transactions on her behalf have total control over decision-making.

• To this day…Loeffler has not provided details about how her portfolio is managed and who does that work. She won’t name her advisers or say what company they work for or disclose what kind of agreement she has with them.

• Loeffler also has not said whether she or her husband, Jeff Sprecher, provided these consultants with general directions about how they want their money invested or if the advisers created an investment strategy policy for the couple.

• Sprecher is chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, as well as founder and chief executive of its parent company, the Intercontinental Exchange. Loeffler stepped down as chief executive of Bakkt, an ICE subsidiary, after she was appointed to the U.S. Senate late last year. Together, the couple is estimated to be worth more than $500 million.

• In the absence of information that could quell accusations that Loeffler participated in insider trading, the controversy continues to dog her.

• Democrats, political watchdog groups and even some Republicans have said she should resign.

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not said if he is bothered by Loeffler’s trading or transactions made by other senators whose portfolio has also faced scrutiny over the past two weeks.

• Asked Friday whether Loeffler still has his support ahead of November’s special election, McConnell, through a spokesman, declined to respond. He also wouldn’t say whether he thinks the Senate Ethics Committee should investigate her or any of the others.

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