.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."
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President Trump said the U.S. will work towards a barriers-free trade deal with the EU, easing tensions that had been weighing on lawmakers, markets, and corporations for days.
The First Daughter said she would close her namesake clothing, shoes, and accessories brand after 15 years in the fashion business. Trump said the decision stemmed from a career transition, though the company has seen sales fall as customers displeased with her father's policies, boycott the brand.
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The black cab drivers are exploring the possibility of bringing a class action lawsuit against the ride-hailing app, arguing that tens of thousands of them have seen their earnings dwindle with Uber's presence in the British capital. Last month, Uber won back its license to operate in London, after the transportation authority initially cited the company's poor working conditions. Cheddar's Kristen Scholer and Tim Stenovec get into the latest.
The company, which counts former House Speaker John Boehner as a board member, just brought in $119 million in funding. Now Acreage Holdings is getting ready to list shares in Canada, a significant step for the growth and acceptance of cannabis, says George Allen, the company's president.
Peter Loftus, Reporter at the Wall Street Journal, is skeptical of pharmaceutical companies touting lower drug prices. Merck may be cutting prices on medications, Loftus told Cheddar, but the ones affected represent a smaller percentage of the company's total sales.
Kaniela Ing is fighting for a lead in Hawaii's First Congressional District. Currently ranked fourth in polling, Ing urges progressive Democrats not to take a step back after Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez's historic campaign, but rather to embrace new wave politics.
Facebook has suspended analytics firm Crimson Hexagon for allegedly mishandling user data. The Boston-based company has also been banned from the site for possible ties to a Kremlin-based nonprofit and the U.S. government. Deputy Tech editor at [Mashable Michael Nuñez explains why users should be concerned.](https://mashable.com/2018/07/20/facebook-suspends-crimson-hexagon/)
The U.S. president on Sunday tweeted at Iranian president Hassan Rouhani to "never, ever threaten the United States or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before." His all-caps post came in response to Rouhani's own strongly-worded message for the United States. Cheddar's J.D. Durkin gets into the latest.
