SEC drops Burr stock trade investigation, retired U.S. senator says

Sen. Richard Burr's lawyer said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission completed an inquiry into early-pandemic stock trades without taking action.

Posted 8:08 p.m. Jan 6, 2023 — Updated 12:46 a.m. Jan 7, 2023

Travis Fain

, WRAL state government reporter

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission concluded its investigation of former U.S. Sen. Richard Burr’s early pandemic stock trades without taking action against him, Burr said Friday.

“I am glad to have this matter in the rearview mirror as I begin my retirement from the Senate following nearly three decades of public service,” Burr, a Republican who didn’t run for reelection last year, said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Burr’s legal team declined to provide anything in writing from the markets regulator confirming or explaining the decision. An SEC spokesperson declined comment, adding that the commission doesn't comment “on the opening or closing of a possible investigation.”

Burr and his brother-in-law dumped shares early in the pandemic. Burr had “material nonpublic information” about the coronavirus, the SEC said in federal court filings last year. The sales came in February 2020, before the depths of the economic impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic had become clear. Burr sold roughly $1.65 million in shares.

The FBI investigated as well, seizing the senator’s phone. In an affidavit an agent on the case said Burr profited more than $164,000 from the “well timed stock sales.” The FBI ended its investigation without charges, though, Burr said in 2021.

Burr’s attorney, Alice Fisher, said in a statement Friday that “we have believed all along that this is the right result.”

“Senator Burr is pleased that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as did the U.S. Department of Justice, conducted a thorough review and closed their investigation with no action,” Fisher said. “He is glad to put this matter behind him.”

Sen. Ted Budd, also a Republican, won Burr’s seat in the November election.

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