.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."
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Prominent business leaders have announced that they will not attend a high-profile conference in Saudi Arabia due to the current controversy surrounding the disappearance of a Washington Post journalist. Dan Primack, business editor at Axios, said while it's partly a PR move, if companies decide to pull out of business deals with Saudi Arabia it could be a huge detriment to the kingdom's economy.
Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch said that the alleged murder of Jamal Khashoggi is finally opening up the eyes of the world to the "grotesque" human rights abuses from the Saudi kingdom.
President Trump raised the possibility on Monday that missing and presumed-dead journalist Jamal Khashoggi may have been murdered by "rogue killers" from Saudi Arabia, a theory he floated to reporters after a phone call with Saudi King Salman.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, isn't worried about the possible bankruptcy that former retail giant Sears is facing. He says the U.S. has a "dynamic economy," and that's part of the process.
The alleged murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi has major corporations rethinking their involvement in Saudi Arabia, even as President Trump avoids taking a stance. Jeanne Whalen, a reporter for the Washington Post, said this could be destructive to the Saudis' effort to diversify their economy as they move away from oil.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Stocks rebounded at the market open Friday after a massive two-day sell-off. The Dow Industrials shot up by 400 points.
Stocks continued their slide in volatile trading Thursday. Some tech stocks rebounded, albeit slightly, while President Trump continued his attacks on the Fed.
