A leading Senate Republican may have engaged in an absolutely shameful -- and possibly criminal -- insider trading scheme around the COVID-19 crisis, according to a new report by ProPublica.

Senator Richard Burr received daily briefings about the coronavirus as Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. And publicly, he downplayed concerns about an outbreak -- saying we were “better prepared than ever before.”

But in private, Burr was selling off his portfolio -- unloading up to $1.6 million in stocks right before they lost huge amounts of market value. That means Burr’s inside information as a senator let him dodge the market crash that will shrink millions of Americans’ retirement savings.

It does seem as though Burr kept some in the loop about the impending crisis, behind closed doors -- his wealthy donors.

Profiting off of a pandemic is despicable. If the allegations are true, instead of serving the American people in a moment of crisis -- Burr used his position as a senator to enrich himself.

Common Cause has filed official complaints with the Senate Ethics Committee, the Department of Justice, and the Securities and Exchange Commission to demand an investigation into Burr -- as well as Senators Kelly Loeffler, Jim Inhofe, and Dianne Feinstein, who did a similar stock sell-off earlier this year. ProPublica’s report implicates Burr in a clear-cut violation of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK) Act.

If Burr engaged in this outrageous self-serving conduct, he has no right to continue to serve in the U.S. Senate. Add your name to demand a full investigation immediately.