The trades show that -- as much of the public was blindsided by both the pandemic and the economic meltdown over the last two weeks -- a number of lawmakers, aides and their brokers helping manage their portfolios adjusted their investments. Lawmakers in both chambers were being briefed via both classified and non-classified meetings about the coronavirus in late January and February, giving people on Capitol Hill a closer look at how the coming pandemic might shape their lives and finances that much of the country was lacking.

“The reality is that if you work on the Hill, or you work in government, you have access to information that the public doesn't have or, if they have it, they can’t always see the signal through the noise,” said Meredith McGehee, executive director of the watchdog group Issue One. “If you’re on the HELP Committee, you’re going to grasp threats much faster than the general public. You see things much more clearly.”

Sen. Richard Burr. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo

Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Friday called for a Senate Ethics Committee investigation into his trades amid an uproar over reports that he had sought to safeguard his portfolio against the looming pandemic even as he assured the public all was well. Burr, who had been present for a classified briefing on the outbreak in late January, wrote an op-ed declaring the U.S. “better prepared than ever before” to face down the virus on Feb. 7 -- six days before unloading at least $628,000 of his own stock as the market was peaking.

The North Carolina Republican is one of several senators, including Loeffler, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Sen. James Inhofe (R.-Okla.) and Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), who sold stock in late January and early February as the Senate was ramping up coronavirus briefings.

It’s illegal for lawmakers and aides to trade stocks based on private information. But they are allowed to buy and sell shares based on public information they absorb on Capitol Hill so long as they disclose those trades within 30 days. That permissive approach to buying and selling stocks -- the executive branch has much stricter rules -- has drawn criticism from watchdogs who argue the freedom to trade isn’t as important as the need for the public to trust Congress to act only on its behalf.

Davis, the 10-term California Democrat who is a member of the House Armed Services and Education and Labor Committees, unloaded stock on Feb. 11 in the airline and cruise industries, two sectors that have since been ground to a halt by the pandemic nearly two weeks before the market tanked. Davis’ spokesman said she has a “third party handling her portfolio and does not play a role in the purchase or sale of her stocks.”

Other members stand to make money off companies working to combat the disease. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) purchased between $1,001 and $15,000 of stock in the pharmaceutical company AbbVie Inc., on Feb. 27, the day the company released a statement saying it had donated one of its antiviral drugs to China as an experimental option for treating the coronavirus and that it was exploring a research collaboration on potential treatment options.

Wittman’s office said he “does not have any involvement in investment decisions for his financial portfolio” and noted that AbbVie shares have since lost value. The office later added that Wittman's initial AbbVie purchase was for $1,218.

Still others were able to move their money to safe havens ahead of the general public. On Jan. 29, the day he and others were briefed on the coronavirus, Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) sold between $500,001 and $1 million in Butte-Glenn municipal bonds. He and his wife moved over $2 million from local government bonds to U.S. Treasury notes, considered a port in the storm amid market turbulence, between Jan. 27 and Jan. 29. The muni bond market is currently facing strong headwinds.

Peters’ office said he and his wife “sold one set of government bonds and bought other government bonds” and said the suggestion that it was linked to the virus briefing is “out of bounds.”

[Peters’ office subsequently produced a document indicating that his broker initiated the bond transactions between Jan. 23 and Jan. 27.]

Aides, who sometimes spend years working alongside their bosses on Capitol Hill and can play as much a role in shaping the response to a crisis as their bosses, also bought and sold stocks in January and February.