Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday that Republican North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr will be resigning from his position as Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“Senator Burr contacted me this morning to inform me of his decision to step aside as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee during the pendency of the investigation,” McConnell said in a statement. “We agreed that this decision would be in the best interests of the committee and will be effective at the end of the day tomorrow.”
Burr’s resignation comes after it was revealed the FBI had seized his cell phone on Wednesday as part of their insider trading investigation. Back in February, as he was receiving briefings on the upcoming coronavirus pandemic, Burr roughly sold between $600,000 and $1.7 million worth of stocks, according to Fox News. (RELATED: McConnell Sounds Off Over Pelosi’s $3 Trillion Coronavirus Package)
McConnell: “Senator Burr contacted me this morning to inform me of his decision to step aside as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee during the pendency of the investigation. We agreed that this decision would be in the best interests of the committee“
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) May 14, 2020
Earlier on Thursday Democrat Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that he would reserve commenting on whether Burr should resign as Chair of the Intelligence Committee because he wasn’t familiar with the situation.
“I haven’t seen the reports, I just read the headlines so it’s premature for me to comment on that,” Schumer said during a televised appearance on CNBC. “I don’t own any stocks. I have told my colleagues in the Senate that at the very least it creates the appearance of a conflict so it’s better not to own any.”
He added, “I cannot comment on Burr until I know the details.” (RELATED: Report: FBI Seizes Richard Burr’s Cell Phone As Part Of Investigation Into Stock Trades)