.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."
Mike Bloomberg's senior advisor Tim O'Brien told Cheddar Friday that the former mayor's time governing a major metropolis will help him moving forward in the race.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, December 20, 2019.
Democratic presidential candidates offered two very different debates during their final forum of 2019. In the first half, they spent much of their time making the case for their electability in a contest with President Donald Trump. The second half was filled with friction over money in politics, Afghanistan and experience.
Chuck Rocha, a senior advisor to Sen. Sanders, told Cheddar that the impeachment of President Trump will likely come up, but he expects his candidate to stay focused on other issues.
Rep. Maxine Waters, an early critic of President Trump, dismissed Republican objections to the impeachment process.
The Senate Majority Leader decried the Democratically-controlled House of Representatives vote on impeaching the president.
Ash Carter, former secretary of defense under President Obama, expressed his concerns for the nation's standing among its allies and adversaries under the Trump administration.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, December 19, 2019.
The House of Representatives has voted to impeach the 45th president of the United States almost entirely on partisan lines.
We at Cheddar decided to take a look at a few of the president's most popular pronouncements on the platform this year.
