Representative Peter Welch (D-VT), meanwhile, appears to have invested in one of the few companies to be manufacturing coronavirus testing equipment approximately a month ago, and that company has seen its stock rise in the face of the pandemic. He has also claimed that this transaction was made by a financial advisor without his knowledge, and that the profits derived from the subsequent sale of that stock would be donated to a Vermont-based charity. Burr, on the other hand, has made no such claim but has instead argued that he made those transactions on the basis of reporting he had seen on CNBC, among other news outlets.

None of these defenses are particularly persuasive. For one, the timing of both sets of transactions is far too coincidental. Secondly, if all it took to beat the impending market crash was a casual viewing of CNBC, it stands to reason that far more people, many of whom dedicate their lives to watching the markets, would have done what Burr did and avoided losses. Thirdly, despite their arguments about third-party advisors, it is unclear if Loeffler or Welch have their assets in a blind trust, which means that even though it was a financial advisor who pulled the trigger on their transactions, there may have been no legal firewall between them and their advisors. To the extent that either the Senate or House Ethics Committee investigates these transactions, it will be essential that they delve into the level of communication (or lack thereof) between these members of Congress, their family members, and their financial advisors.