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Washington Post Op-Ed, March 21, 2020
Trump deceives while lawmakers cash out. It’s the ‘story of life.’
By Dana Milbank
During a news conference this week, NBC’s Peter Alexander asked
President Trump about NBA players getting coronavirus tests.
"How are non-symptomatic professional athletes getting tests while
others are waiting in line and can't get them?" Alexander asked. "Do the
well-connected go to the front of the line?"
Trump began to disagree — then changed course. "Perhaps that’s the story
of life,” he said.
It sure feels that way now. As the outbreak explodes, markets crash,
tens of millions hunker down and millions are in danger of losing their
livelihoods, we learn that several senators, after receiving private
information about the virus from administration officials in January and
February, dumped their stocks before the crash — even as some of them
played down the virus just as Trump did.
The revolting tale begins with Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who dumped
stock worth as much as $1.72 million on Feb. 13, the Center for
Responsive Politics discovered — a day after senators were scheduled for
a private briefing on the virus with administration officials, following
a similar private briefing on Jan. 24.
Six days before the sale, Burr co-wrote an op-ed for Fox News saying
“the United States today is better prepared than ever before to face
emerging public health threats, like the coronavirus.” Two weeks after
he sold his shares, Burr privately told a well-heeled audience at the
National Republican Club of Capitol Hill, also known as the Capitol Hill
Club, that the virus could be like the horrific 1918 flu pandemic,
according to a recording obtained by NPR.
Others also sold investments after the administration privately briefed
senators but before the administration acknowledged publicly how bad
things were. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and her husband, the chairman
of the New York Stock Exchange, sold off as much as $3.1 million, even
though she later tweeted upbeat messages about “Coronavirus readiness.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and her investment-banker husband sold
up to $6 million of a biotech company’s shares, Sen. Jim Inhofe
(R-Okla.) sold as much as $400,000 in shares, Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.)
traded heavily, and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) sold a stake in his family
business worth as much as $25 million.
Explanations vary: Burr acknowledged his trading could look bad “in
hindsight” and requested an Ethics Committee review, Johnson said the
sale had been long planned, and the others said they were unaware of the
trades, which were handled by investment advisers or spouses.
Regardless, it stinks. While Trump gave the public false assurances,
secretly-briefed lawmakers, or those representing their interests,
dumped investments before a market panic.
It’s bad enough that the public was misled and that even now the Trump
administration muzzles the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and hides information about testing, the availability of ventilators and
whether or not he’s using the Defense Production Act for urgently needed
medical supplies. It’s appalling that the well-connected got better
information and that the rich and famous got tests while others
couldn’t. No doubt they’ll have priority for ventilators, too.
Now Senate Republicans are working to lard a stimulus bill with
corporate tax cuts and bailouts for airlines (including those refusing
to refund many tickets even as the government tells Americans not to
travel) and hotels. Will Trump’s hotels be included?
On the New York Times homepage Friday, just below the headline about
Burr’s stock sales, another headline announced: “Coronavirus and
Poverty: A Mother Skips Meals So Her Children Can Eat.”
Perhaps that’s the story of life.
I had a real-time glimpse into how senators were treated to inside
information by the administration while the public was given happy talk
about the virus. Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee, held a public roundtable about the
coronavirus on Feb. 12 — and administration officials didn’t show up.
“I’m disappointed we don’t have a representative of HHS, or DHS, CDC
here,” Johnson said that morning. “I thought I had them convinced to
come, but apparently they’re doing an all-Senate briefing at 11:30.”
Johnson gave the public an upbeat assessment: “It’s looking to me a
little bit more like H1N1, maybe more contagious, maybe not as
virulent,” he said, referring to the milder-than-expected 2009 pandemic.
Those who listened to the non-government experts that morning (the same
week Trump said the virus “miraculously goes away” in April) heard
alarming — and accurate — predictions about the virus spreading to
hundreds of thousands of Americans.
It would have had a lot more impact if Trump administration officials
had been the ones sounding the warning. Instead, the administration
offered to brief senators in private.
The Opinions section is looking for stories of how the coronavirus has
affected people of all walks of life. Write to us.
The stock market set a record high that day. The next day, Burr dumped
stock, including hotel stock. The day after that, Loeffler bought stock
in Citrix, which provides teleconferencing. Meanwhile, the greater
public remained unaware of, and unprepared for, the looming catastrophe.
Now Trump says unfairness is the story of life. Maybe that’s why we’re
living this nightmare.
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