Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her husband's firm, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, defended on Friday the propriety of the couple's sales of up to $3 million worth of stocks after she was privately briefed by federal officials about the coronavirus outbreak.

At the same time, two good-government advocacy groups filed complaints against Loeffler, R-Ga., and other senators, in connection with their sales of stocks after that closed-door briefing on Jan. 24.

"I am very confident that we have followed the letter and spirit of the law," Loeffler said in an interview on CNBC's "The Exchange."

"I had no involvement in the decisions" to trade the stocks, the freshman lawmaker said.

Instead, Loeffler said, those decisions involving nearly 30 trades were made by third-party investment advisors without any input by herself or her husband, Jeff Sprecher, chairman of the NYSE, and chairman and CEO of its holding company, Intercontinental Exchange.

Loeffler did not identify those third-party investment advisors by name after being asked to do so.

"We have no knowledge of these companies" whose stocks were sold and bought, Loeffler said, referring to her and Sprecher.

"I have no discretion over ... our portfolio."

She said the trades were a mix of buys and sells, and that some of the trades were "quite bullish."

Loeffler's interview came a day after news reports revealed about nearly 30 trades since late January in accounts owned by her and Sprecher.

On Thursday night, reports said Loeffler and other GOP senators, Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr of North Carolina and Oklahoma's James Inhofe, along with California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, dumped shares worth up to $10 million in the weeks after a Jan. 24 private briefing to senators about coronavirus by Trump administration health officials.

The sales occurred before a sharp drop in the stock market indexes in recent weeks as the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy.

Intercontinental Exchange, which owns other exchanges and clearing houses, said in a statement that the nearly 30 transactions involving the couple were "in compliance" with company policies.