The FBI served a search warrant on Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) Wednesday as an investigation pushes forward on whether or not the senator violated a law that prevents members of Congress from trading on insider information they learn from their work, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Federal agents seized Burr’s cellphone after they served a search warrant on the Republican at his residence in the Washington area, a law enforcement official told the Times.
Caitlin Carroll, a spokeswoman for Burr, declined to comment on the reported warrant.
Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sold a significant percentage of his stock portfolio in February shortly before the stock market declined and after his committee was receiving daily coronavirus briefings.
The Justice Department started to probe stock transactions made by lawmakers, including Barr, ahead of the steep market decline, CNN reported last month.
Burr sold off between $628,000 to $1.72 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 in 33 separate transactions, according to ProPublica which first reported in March on the senator’s selloff.
Burr has denied using any information he learned in his capacity as a senator to guide his decisions regarding selling his stocks.
Earlier this month, ProPublica reported that Burr’s brother-in-law Gerald Fauth also sold a large portion of his stock holdings in February before the stock market plunged.
Alice Fisher, who is advising Burr, told The Hill at the time that the North Carolina Republican “participated in the stock market based on public information and he did not coordinate his decision to trade on February 13 with Mr. Fauth.”
Updated at 10:43 p.m.