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‘I’m Sorry, With Respect, That Wasn’t Three Months Ago’: Tucker Presses Kelly Loeffler On Insider Trading Accusation

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Fox News host Tucker Carlson interviewed embattled Republican Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler on Friday night’s edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

Loeffler and Republican North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr reportedly sold off millions of dollars in stocks from late January to mid-February after a closed-door Senate meeting about the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, sparking accusations of insider trading. Last night, the Daily Caller co-founder said, absent an explanation from the senator, that Burr should “resign from the Senate and face prosecution for insider trading.”

Before bringing on the Georgia senator, Carlson gave her credit for quickly responding to the accusations by explaining that a third party handles her portfolio.

Carlson asked the senator “who specifically made that decision for you” to sell these equities and why she though they made that decision?

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“I decided that I was going to maintain the same posture that I had with the financial services industry, which was to have the third-party person and a set of advisers that were fully charged and able to make these transactions on my own so that I did not have to be involved in any of the decision-making around these financial transactions,” Loeffler said, adding that such a practice “worked very well in the private sector” and “kept us from having to have concerns around insider trading.”

Citing the nature of the stocks that were sold and the fact that more were sold than bought, Carlson continued to press Loeffler on “who made specifically the decision” for her “and on what basis.”

Without naming names, Loeffler contended she was “informed only after those trades are made” and had no say “in what buys and sells are executed” and “what that timing is.”

Still not satisfied, the Fox News host played a video Loeffler released about the strong economy around the time she was dumping retail stocks.

“In retrospect, you think maybe you should have hinted it was maybe not fine, obviously, just by your portfolio, you should know that, right?” Carlson asked. (RELATED: Doug Collins Rips Kelly Loeffler For Dumping Stocks After Private Meeting On Coronavirus Impact)

“The situation has dramatically changed in the space of three months. I think none of us could have predicted where we would be today, and I think that’s why it’s important that I’m not involved in the stock transactions,” she responded. “I don’t want to have to explain my actions three months ago that I don’t need to take …”

“No, no, that hold on, I’m sorry, with respect, this wasn’t three months ago, this was a month ago … did it trip any bells for you?” Carlson interrupted. “You can read a balance sheet, obviously, it’s what you did all of your life, until recently. Did you think maybe this portends something ominous for the economy. Did that thought cross your mind?”

Loeffler continued to maintain her position, claiming she trusts the “professionals that manage the portfolio.”

“I get it, I get it, and again I’m not accusing you of executing the trades yourself and it sounds like you didn’t,” said Carlson. “I’m just wondering about the broader question of assuring the public that the economy is fine and the coronavirus can be managed when of course given your position you know that that’s not true.”

The Georgia senator maintained that there was no way to know “where we’d stand on March 20th” before refusing to speculate on whether her fellow senator, Richard Burr, should be indicted.