NC NAACP Petitions SEC for Senator Burr to be Expelled

By Cash Michaels

The NC NAACP, President Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, and former president Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, have issued a petition demanding “a thorough investigation” by the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee into allegations that senior Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) profiteered from the COVID-19 pandemic when he sold 32 sets of stocks on February 13th, 2020, just prior to the stock market crashing, and the nation being warned about severe threat the pandemic posed.

Sen. Burr allegedly sold the stocks, netting $1.7 million, based on classified information not available to the public, otherwise known as ‘insider trading.”

Once reported, Burr relinquished his chairmanship of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and has asked the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate the matter.

On May 14th, it was reported that FBI agents served a search warrant and seized Sen. Burr’s cellphone in order to track his alleged communications, and build a case against him.

Burr has insisted that he’s done nothing wrong, and that any information he employed to sell his stocks was public information.

The NCNAACP petition quotes former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, an expert in insider stock trading cases, as calling the Burr case “a very, very big deal.”

“This is something the FBI or DOJ does lightly. It requires layers of review, the blessing of a judge, and consideration of severe reputational harm to a sitting U.S. senator.”

“We believe a thorough SEC (Senate Ethics Committee) investigation shall lead to the Senate’s expulsion of Sen. Burr...” according to the US Constitution.

Reverends Spearman and Barber say they are working on a digital copy of the petition for people to sign, but for now interested petitioners should be able to access one at www.naacpnc.org, or they can call the NCNAACP office to request that their name be included among the signatories, or send to PO Box 7186, Greensboro, NC 27407.