Senator Burr's brother-in-law also dumped stock before market crash

U.S. Senator Richard Burr speaks during the National Rifle Association's 139th annual meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina May 14, 2010. /Reuters

Gerald Fauth, the brother-in-law of Republican Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina, also dumped tens of thousands of dollarsbefore the market fell by over 30 percent, ProPublica, a nonprofit media group, reported

Gerald Fauth sold up to 280,000U.S. dollarsworth of shares in six companies — including several that have been hit particularly hard in the market swoon and economic downturn, ProPublicareported on May 6.

"On February 13, Fauth or his spouse sold between 15,001 U.S. dollars and 50,000 U.S. dollars of Altria, the tobacco company; between 50,001 U.S. dollars and 100,000 U.S. dollars of snack food maker Mondelez International; and between 1,001 U.S. dollars and 15,000 U.S. dollars of home furnishings retailer Williams-Sonoma," according to ProPublica.

Fauth, a 2017 Trump administration appointee, also has a position on the National Mediation Board.

As chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the health committee, Burr had access to the government's most highly classified information about threats to America’s security and public health concerns, said ProPublica.

On February7, Burrwrote on the Fox News website that the U.S. government was "better prepared than ever" for the COVID-19 virus, assuring Americans that they were well-protected before the sell-off.

On February 13, Burr unloaded between 628,000 U.S. dollars and 1.72 million U.S. dollars of his holdings in 33 separate transactions.