“Political Firestorm,” “Trading Uproar,” and “Under Fire”: Loeffler Tries to Distract from “Coronavirus Trade Backlash” While Refusing to Answer Basic Questions or Move Assets into a Blind Trust

Loeffler attempts to do damage control on “political firestorm” over her and her husband’s coronavirus stock trading even as she refuses to follow her predecessor Senator Isakson’s example and put assets in a blind trust

ATLANTA — Unelected “political mega-donor” Senator Kelly Loeffler is still trying to manage the fallout from her attempts to distract from her “coronavirus trading uproar” while refusing to place her assets into a blind trust or calling for a Senate Ethics Committee investigation like her fellow Senator Richard Burr.

After first claiming to the Washington Post this week that she “can’t say anything that [she] would have done differently” regarding her stock transactions during the coronavirus outbreak, Loeffler abruptly backtracked yesterday as she continues to come “under fire” from members of both parties for her stock trading history. Loeffler and her husband had previously sold off millions in stock before the market dropped — including shares in a travel booking firm — while investing in “a company that makes COVID-19 protective garments.”

Yet even after this latest attempt at damage control, Loeffler still has not clearly answered questions about “how her portfolio is managed” nor why she won’t put her assets in a blind trust like her predecessor Senator Johnny Isakson. Georgia Republican leaders are now fretting about “down-ticket damage” from Loeffler’s scandal while the chair of the Republican National Committee claimed she is “very concerned about Georgia” and openly worried the race could “get so divisive that…it hurts us keeping that seat.”

Read what they’re saying about Loeffler’s attempts to distract from her stock trading scandal:

• AJC: “[Loeffler makes] attempt to push past the criticism she faces about transactions made on her behalf during the coronavirus pandemic”

• CBS: “[Loeffler’s] decision follows a political firestorm over their stock transactions following a Senate briefing on the coronavirus before the global stock market crash.”

• GPB: “Loeffler and her husband will sell off millions of dollars of individual stocks and related stock options after a firestorm of criticism”

• WABE: “Loeffler…and her husband are liquidating their managed stock portfolio after accusations that she…profited off inside information about the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic”

• The Daily Beast: Kelly Loeffler to Liquidate Stock Amid Coronavirus Trading Uproar

• POLITICO: Sen. Loeffler will sell individual stocks amid political firestorm

• The Hill: Loeffler liquidates stocks amid uproar over trades after Senate coronavirus briefing

• CNBC: “Loeffler…and her CEO husband Jeff Sprecher will liquidate their individual stock share positions and related options after weeks of criticism”

• NYT: Under Fire for Trades, Kelly Loeffler Says She Will Divest From Individual Stocks

• Roll Call: “Loeffler…will unload all her family’s individual securities after facing intense scrutiny of her trades after receiving a private coronavirus briefing”

• Washington Post: “Loeffler…and her husband will liquidate their individual stock shares, amid accusations that the Georgia Republican sought to profit from information she received at a closed-door coronavirus briefing”

• Huffington Post: GOP Senator To Sell Off All Individual Stocks After Coronavirus Trade Backlash

• CNN: Loeffler to sell individual stocks amid criticism over lawmaker trades

• NY Post: “Loeffler is cashing out to prove that she wasn’t cashing in”

• The Week: “Loeffler recently came under fire after it was revealed she…sold significant stock holdings after a closed-door briefing about the COVID-19 coronavirus”

• WSJ: “Loeffler was one of several lawmakers who were actively trading before coronavirus-related closures and panic caused the markets to fall”

• USA Today: “Loeffler and her husband…have faced criticism for their sales of millions of dollars worth of stocks before the coronavirus pandemic worsened and as senators were receiving closed-door briefings”

• The Daily Beast’s Lachlan Markay:

• Vox’s Matt Yglesias:

• The Daily Beast’s Noah Shachtman:

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