.By Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., stepped aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday after the FBI served a search warrant for his phone as part of an ongoing insider-trading investigation tied to the coronavirus pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the move, saying he and Burr had agreed it was in the Senate's best interests.
FBI officials showed up at Burr's home with the warrant on Wednesday, marking a significant escalation into the Justice Department's investigation into whether Burr broke the law with a well-timed sale of stocks before the coronavirus caused markets to plummet,
The Justice Department declined to comment. His attorney did not respond to phone and email messages, but said last month that the law is clear that any senator can participate in stock market trading based on public information "as Sen. Burr did."
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Stocks closed broadly higher on Wall Street Thursday as investors welcomed a report showing the U.S. job market continues to climb out of the crater created by the coronavirus pandemic.
White House Economic Adviser, Tyler Goodspeed, on the June jobs report. Goodspeed also keys in the Trump administration's goal of growing jobs despite coronavirus cases spiking.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. climbed to a new high of more than 50,000 per day on Thursday.
Federal Reserve officials last month expressed concerns about the severity of the economic downturn triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Arizona recorded more coronavirus deaths, infections and emergency-room admissions in a single day than ever before in a rapidly deepening crisis Wednesday across the Sunbelt.
Economic Policy Institute Policy Director Heidi Shierholz warns of the possible consequences if Congress allows the pandemic unemployment assistance program to expire.
Health experts have slammed the U.S. decision to hog nearly the entire global supply of remdesivir, the only drug licensed so far to treat COVID-19.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the U.S. is “going in the wrong direction” with coronavirus cases surging in some regions, and that's putting the entire country at risk.
The European Union has announced it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S.
