.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."
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is polling somewhere in the neighborhood of zero to one percent in most national polls, but she doesn't believe she can be counted out of the race with the first Democratic primary debates still looming.
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: Democratic presidential hopefuls descended on South Carolina Friday to meet voters and chow down at House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn's "World Famous Fish Fry."
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House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn focused on his district and uplifting rural communities with a plan to build up broadband infrastructure
Three years since the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) is working to strengthen the government's ability to track violence against the LGBTQ community in an effort to combat the enduring epidemic.
*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.*
Rising tensions with Iran and a oil refinery fire in Philadelphia are threatening to send prices higher at American gas pumps.
Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and other members of Congress want to question Facebook on its latest project launching a cryptocurrency called Libra.
Sen. Josh Hawley’s bill to hold major tech companies responsible for content published on their platforms is finding no love. The legislation, which is aimed to punishing tech companies for their supposed censorship of conservative voices, is being criticized by free speech advocates for potentially increasing censorship and by politicians from both sides of the aisle who view the bill as gross example of government overreach.
