In March, Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) became embroiled in a stock-trading scandal; it was discovered that she and a handful of other senators had sold stocks worth hundreds of thousands of dollars between January and February, soon before the stock market plummeted in light of the coronavirus pandemic, after being briefed about the likely economic crash to be brought about by the virus. Under the STOCK Act, it is illegal for members of Congress to make stock transactions on non-public information, leading many to accuse Loeffler of insider trading, a crime that the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched an investigation into the senator regarding. However, on Tuesday, it was reported that the DOJ had dropped their investigation into Loeffler's stock trades, a move her spokesperson calls a "clear exoneration." But is it really that?
On April 29, Jeffrey Sprecher, Loeffler's husband and chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, donated $1 million to America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC. Additionally, throughout the 2020 election cycle, he has contributed a total of $423,500 to the Republican National Committee (RNC), which has formed a joint fundraising committee with the president's campaign. Loeffler, meanwhile, has donated $388,000 to the RNC. Given these large donations to committees backing the president, it puts into serious question the DOJ's closure of the investigation, specifically, was it actually a "clear exoneration," or was it just another example of what money can buy in politics. Sadly, with what is known, it appears as if the latter is the more likely scenario.
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