Georgia Senator Among Those Under Scrutiny Over Stock Market Transactions
AP- Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler
Politician caught in financial scandal
In a mandatory disclosure filed by Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler on Tuesday, it was reported that her husband recently acquired as much as $415,000 in stock from a chemical company that manufactures protective equipment.
This disclosure is among others as senators in both parties have faced questions about stock transactions they made in the weeks leading up to the coronavirus upending the U.S. economy.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr has come under the most scrutiny for his sale of $1.7 million in stocks in the days that led up to the markets dropping in February.
Loeffler and her husband were first noticed after they dumped substantial portions of their financial portfolios after a series of private congressional briefings about the coronavirus.
Loeffler denies the trades with a spokeswoman saying that her stock portfolio is managed independently by third-party advisors. Her top primary challenger, Rep. Doug Collins has accused her of profiting off the pandemic while people lose their jobs and businesses.
The couple’s investment in the chemical company drew the most notice from government watchdog groups as the couple was also noticed to be investing in a tech company that offered telecommuting software that could benefit from the pandemic.
Those who filed a senate ethics complaint include the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington who noticed that the first round of sales, including the purchase stock in the telecommuting company, came when the senator received nonpublic information.
Judge Dismisses Pharmacies Opioid Lawsuit
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Cleveland dismissed a lawsuit spearheaded by pharmacy companies against physicians. The lawsuit was filed in an effort by pharmacy companies to shift the liability for the opioid crisis to physicians by alleging they created a public nuisance.
The judge, Dan Polster, ruled that the lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies do not concern prescription practices but instead the failure of the companies to prevent the illegal diversion of painkillers. The companies include Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Discount Drug Mart and HBC.
Attorneys for the pharmaceutical chains argued that they were not liable because pharmacies could only fill prescriptions written by prescribers which are authorized by the state of Ohio and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. The attorneys stressed that the pharmacists, while trained professionals, did not attend medical school.
The attorneys for the counties issued a statement applauding Polster’s ruling stating that it reaffirms that pharmacies need to be held accountable for years of avoiding their legal obligations to protect Americans from controlled substances.
The lawsuits were filed in Cuyahoga County which reached a $250 million settlement with three drug distributors and a drug manufacturer before the start of the trial last October.
Polster is overseeing more than 2,000 opioid-related lawsuits against drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies in an effort to hold them accountable for the opioid crisis which has been linked to more than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. This includes fatal overdoses from prescription opioids and illegal ones.
Coal Companies to Pay $5 Million in Fines
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s coal companies have agreed to pay more than $5 million for mine safety violations.
The civil case was brought last year and sought to claim payments for nearly 2,3000 violations committed since 2014.
Authorities said in a news release that Justice’s companies repeatedly failed to pay off the fines after years of requests from multiple federal agencies. The companies have continuously dogged litigation over unpaid bills.
Justice has been reported as the richest man in West Virginia with a fortune of more than $1 billion made through multiple coal and agricultural businesses. He tries to distance himself from the businesses by saying that his children run them, however, he was listed on the lawsuit along with his son and daughter.
While Justice has tried to distance himself from his businesses, it has proven difficult for him. His personal attorney held a news conference in the governor’s reception room at the state Capitol to tell reporters that investigations into potential wrongdoing by Justice’s private businesses ended with no findings.
In another instance, records provided to the Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act, a farming company owned by the Justice family received $125,000 in soybean and corn subsidies, the maximum allowed from a federal program meant to help American farmers.
Currently, Justice is running for a second term as governor.
The Associated Press contributed reporting. Contact Emma Pollans at epollans@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.