Burr steps aside as Senate intelligence chair amid FBI probe – By Eric Tucker, Michael Balsamo, and Mary Clare Jalonick (The Associated Press) / May 14 2020
WASHINGTON — Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., temporarily stepped aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday after the FBI served a search warrant for his cellphone as part of an ongoing insider-trading investigation tied to the coronavirus pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the move, saying he and Burr had agreed that it was in the committee’s best interests.
FBI officials showed up at Burr’s home with the warrant on Wednesday, two people familiar with the investigation said Thursday, marking a significant escalation into the Justice Department’s investigation into whether Burr broke the law with a well-timed sale of stocks before the coronavirus caused markets to plummet. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.
The search warrant was served on Burr’s lawyers, and FBI agents went to Burr’s home in the Washington area to retrieve the cellphone, a senior Justice Department official said. The decision to obtain the warrant, which must be authorized by a judge, was approved at the highest levels of the department, the official said.
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