Senator Ernst Took in $2,800 from GOP Senator Kelly Loeffler Just Days After She Dumped Millions in Stock and Invested in Companies that Would Profit Off of COVID-19 Crisis
New Federal Election Commission filings reveal that Senator Joni Ernst accepted a $2,800 personal campaign contribution from disgraced GOP Senator Kelly Loeffler – the maximum allowed under the law for each election – who is facing allegations of insider trading after she made a series of well-timed stock trades as the COVID-19 pandemic began pummeling markets.
The very same day in January that Loeffler received a private senate briefing on the emerging coronavirus threat, she and her husband – the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange – dumped millions of dollars-worth of stocks while pouring money into a company that stood to profit during the crisis. Ernst’s contribution from Loeffler came just four days after the Georgia senator purchased the stock in a teleconferencing software company that has seen its value go up by more than 25 percent.
Senator Ernst has refused to call for investigations into her clear-as-day abuse of office and violation of public trust. While Loeffler used the coronavirus emergency to boost her stock portfolio, Ernst intentionally ignored the dire warnings and downplayed the crisis to Iowans to score political points.
“For Senator Ernst to shamelessly cash a campaign check from her GOP colleague who’s profiting off of a pandemic is downright repugnant,” said Jeremy Busch, Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson. “Iowans are literally dying because the federal government refused to take action – and if Senator Ernst doesn’t return Loeffler’s contribution, it sends a clear message that party politics are more important to Ernst than the healths of Iowans.”