Politico reports, the Republican and Democratic senators were being investigated after they sold off stocks following early briefings on the coronavirus pandemic.
The Justice Department has ended its investigation into three senators’ controversial stock trades made by the Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, their offices confirmed Tuesday.
The decision comes after the FBI served Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.) a search warrant and seized his cell phone earlier this month, as part of its broader investigation into his financial transactions.
Burr stepped aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and still remains under investigation, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The senators have come under scrutiny for making stock trades after receiving briefings on the coronavirus and before the pandemic caused the markets to drop. All four senators have denied any wrongdoing.
“Today’s clear exoneration by the Department of Justice affirms what Sen. Loeffler has said all along: She did nothing wrong,” said Stephen Lawson, a spokesperson for Loeffler. “This was a politically motivated attack shamelessly promoted by the fake news media and her political opponent.”
Loeffler cooperated with the Justice Department, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Senate Ethics Committee, after she sold millions in stocks following a private all-senators briefing on the coronavirus.