BREAKING: Secret recording shows Senator Burr warning private audience three weeks ago about coronav

[nitpicker]

http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2020/03/19/breaking-secret-recording-shows-senator-burr-warning-private-audience-three-weeks-ago-about-coronavirus/

BREAKING: Secret recording shows Senator Burr warning private audience three weeks ago about coronavirus

By Rob Schofield

 44 mins ago

Reporter Tim Mak of NPR reported this morning that Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr issued a dire warning about the coronavirus three weeks ago to a private group of North Carolinians called the Tar Heel Circle at a luncheon in Washington. Burr delivered the warning while President Trump was downplaying the risk, which raises serious questions as to why Burr wasn’t saying the same thing to his constituents. Listen to the story here:
(snip)

[nitpicker]

1. Direct link to NPR audio

https://www.npr.org/2020/03/19/818192535/burr-recording-sparks-questions-about-private-comments-on-covid-19

[calimary]

5. Good stuff. Just st one more reason why I love DU.

[ck4829]

73. +1

[nitpicker]

2. And to Raw Story

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/03/listen-secret-audio-reveals-rop-gop-senator-new-weeks-ago-just-how-devastating-covid-19-is-but-didnt-warn-the-public/

[drray23]

3. Gotta give the rich folks advance warning

So that they can stock up their mountain home and bug out.

[dalton99a]

17. Yep.

[TheFarseer]

20. And sell their stocks

I bet we'd all be amazed at the levels of insider trading there is in this country.

[MLAA]

46. Agree

The market is/can be manipulated by a small number

[misanthrope]

71. Only if you've had your eyes closed

The market has elements of chance in it but it's also manipulated to a degree by the actions of powerful people.

[ck4829]

74. ...

[Roland99]

4. Is he up for re-election?

[CurtEastPoint]

11. Watch him renege on this:

On July 20, 2016, during his re-election campaign, Burr announced that, should he win that year's election, which he eventually did, he would not seek re-election to a fourth term in 2022.

[nitpicker]

34. Wikipedia says it's still holding

And suggesting Pat McCrory as a potential replacement.

[nitpicker]

37. He will be 67 in 2022

Perhaps time to milk the K street lobbyist round for a decade or so before retiring to a gated compound in the NC hills?

((far out of reach of the sty-swampable land))

[Traildogbob]

39. Big surprise for them

I live in the NC mountains and are very familiar with all the Million Dollar play houses that are visited once in a while. They have no fans here. Locals have planned for many years, when the shit hits the fan, those homes will be raided by knuckledragging mouth breathers that are heavily armed. Not only do they plan to raid them, they plan to live in those luxury homes. So go ahead, stock them up. We appreciate your generosity. MAGA! We'll see what happens.

[superpatriotman]

6. Accomplice

To mass murder

[dem4decades]

7. That prick could have saved many lives if he had gone public. Not to mention

undo pain to travelers that had to rush back or are stuck overseas.

He needs to be questioned publicly about his actions.

[malaise]

8. Didn't the Con and ther est of the kakistocracy have meetings only

with ReTHUGs.
These people should be hanged for crimes against the people of the US (and I'm against the death penalty)

It's OK for his rich friends to be in the know.

[rzemanfl]

10. Drawn and quartered. n/t

[aggiesal]

16. I'm sure that being the Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee ...

he's privy to a lot more information than the rest of us.

He probably received this info during one of their daily morning briefings.

He knew this was going to happen yet didn't say a word in public.
Why? Because Pendejo45 wanted the numbers to appear low so that
the stock market wouldn't tank.
They needed the rest of us to continue to shop and spend our money.

[CurtEastPoint]

38. And of course his background as a GD lawn mower salesman qualifies him for this.

Prior to running for Congress, Burr worked for 17 years as a sales manager for Carswell Distributing Company, a distributor of lawn equipment.

[crickets]

41. Burr's party loyalty will be directly responsible for deaths that could have been prevented.

Trump and all of the toadies who knew better but still went along with the "nothing to see here" strategy for as long as possible really should be brought up on charges. I include anyone over at FOX in the list. It's not just gotcha politics, it's not just a breach of ethics, it's a deliberate contribution to destruction of public safety that will cause more people to die.

There's no excuse. None.

[aggiesal]

51. Well put. I completely agree ...

I believe that FOX Snooze should have the FCC license revoked because of this.

To get a license you have to broadcast what is in the public good.
We may not agree what they believe is public good, but they believe it, and the FCC agrees.

But, as you stated, "... a deliberate contribution to destruction of public safety that will cause more people to die.",
would violate that FCC license agreement.

[moonscape]

54. It was out there in the press already that we were just behind Italy

and were following that trajectory. So his warnings it seems to me were publicly available for people who were paying attention to this though the govt was of course denying. And there is no excuse obviously for Burr not saying these things to his constituents. My point is only one doesn't have to be on the Intelligence Committee to have known this, only a democrat who reads real media!

Since I have several high risk factors, I went into self-isolation 3 weeks ago.

[aggiesal]

55. Your statement ...

So his warnings it seems to me were publicly available for people who
were paying attention to this though the govt was of course denying.

The problem is if your Senator is the chair of the Intelligence Committee and he parrots what Pendejo45 kept saying, his Pendejo45 loving constituents are going to buy what they're selling.

This DU community tends to be on top of all kinds of information, including this disaster, so we knew better.
But his constituents were the ones screaming "This is a hoax", along with Fox Noise.

Stay safe!

[AtheistCrusader]

57. It was in the press, but so was the republican administration, downplaying and denying it.

Every government employee that upheld their oath to the people by way of the constitution, had a duty to tell us the truth.

[moonscape]

68. Without question! n/t

[RVN VET71]

63. That's what's missing from this report

Was Burr speaking about his "feelings" about the virus, or was he drawing on hard intelligence that should have been shared with America? If he was telling the group that he felt like this virus might be as bad as the 1918 Spanish Flu, that's one thing.

But if he's been told in intelligence briefings that, yes, this could well be as bad or worse than that flu outbreak, then he's an amoral criminal who needs to be called out and hounded to hell for it.

My "feelings" about his statements are that he was, in fact, drawing from intelligence briefings and telling this cloistered group of rich business people because he wanted to give them a heads up so they'd survive the plague and, of course, have a berth for him on their yachts as they sail away to safer ports.

[rzemanfl]

9. Fucker. n/t

[Mrs. Overall]

12. I hope all media outlets run with this. K&R

[barbtries]

13. one of my 2 senators.

Tillis is the other. Worships trump. i don't know which is worse, burr who can see the writing on the wall and ignores it out of greed, partisanship, and cynicism, or tillis, who's stupid and brainwashed. either way they both epitomize their party.

how fucked up is that?! I hope this thing goes totally viral.

we are all in such deep shit. because coronavirus, but also because republicans. at this point i hate them all so much it's unhealthy.

going to share this on fb and twitter right now. thank you for posting.

[joost5]

21. +1

[Tink41]

14. Just Googled

Richard Burr Coronavirus, and up pops an opinion piece on Fox News authored by him and another senator, early Feb. It's an interesting piece considering where we are at now. I'd suggest a 2-3 min read.

[aggiesal]

52. Can you provide a link? Thanks. n/t

[Demsrule86]

15. Senator Burr is a piece of shit who cares for no one...we can do better.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. Are there any damning videos/quotes or him saying the opposite in public?

[uponit7771]

32. There's an op Ed he posted in Feb ... Well see

[paleotn]

19. So his rich tar heel buddies...

Could exit financial markets before the melt down. Burr is a serious piece of shit.

[Tanuki]

23. This is exactly the reason. Passing along inside information to his supporters.

[Firestorm49]

22. He probably kept his public mouth shut because the information was classified.

[crickets]

42. And we all know it shouldn't have been. nt

[Botany]

24. Bet ya' he is a good Christian too

So Trump also knew all about just how bad that C-19 would be and still went out and lied about it.

These mother fuckers should be executed and then put into prison. How many republican
senators and congressperson knew about this?

[Old Crank]

25. Wouldn't any stock trades

Based on this knowledge be insider trading??????

[uponit7771]

31. Yes especially when the rest of us were being told different. Anyone else would be arrested by now

[IronLionZion]

26. Survival of the richest

screw the rest of us

[iluvtennis]

27. A-holes, each and every one of the GOPers.

[bucolic_frolic]

28. I feel information and implications were held back so smart rich people could bank it

Once the Spanish 1918 flu was invoked, you could draw your own conclusions, this probably about late Jan to early Feb. It wasn't actual factual at that point, you had to learn what scientists and the medical community were saying, and couple it with logical conclusions. Maybe he knew, maybe he could draw conclusions, maybe he didn't want to embrace science in the Fundie world. Who knows. Proving motivation is a difficult hurdle. But it sure isn't a good luck to give insiders actionable information and not tell the public the same thing. In the world of investments, it's called insider trading.

[DesertRat]

29. Vote them all out. They are not fit to govern.

Link to tweet

[uponit7771]

30. They knew

[ffr]

33. BAM! n/t

[Botany]

35. "They knew"

And used that knowledge to make money and make plans so as to stay safe.

So when Trump was saying it was just a hoax he knew how really bad it was going to be.
And he had that knowledge when he was blocking America from getting the W.H.O.'s test
kits for C-19.

Execute them then put 'em into prison.

[uponit7771]

36. This!!! I bet the DOW bounces hard off of 18 .. no gradual uptick .

[GusBob]

59. THE NEW LIHOP/MIHOP ?

everything old is new again

[uponit7771]

60. +1

[ck4829]

75. They knew

[Champp]

40. Republicans have turned their backs on truth, honor, integrity, and America

Shame on them

[gademocrat7]

43. Despicable Burr.

The rethug party is nothing but a bunch of self serving greedy jerks. We must vote them out!

[dchill]

44. K&R.

[dchill]

45. Sounds like a conspiracy to commit mass murder.

Market's doing better, though.

[Windy City Charlie]

47. You can't tell me

You can't tell me with the way the stock market tanked so fast that there wasn't insider trading going on. Usually that's the only way to explain such a sharp drop.

[uponit7771]

48. I'm going to kick this for weeks

[bronxiteforever]

49. Kick & recommend for visibility. Never forget this.

[kiri]

56. made his friends richer by selling short

He allowed all his rich friends to sell short. Foreseeing the decline in the stock market gave his group a great chance to make tons of money. Trump's entourage--Don, Eric, Jared-- did the same.

[AtheistCrusader]

50. Traitor. Let's just call him what he is.

NOUN
a person who betrays a friend, country, principle, etc..

[Uncle Joe]

53. That's the kind of special attention being a major donor (s) brings.

Thanks for the thread nitpicker.

[MarcA]

58. Owners of the U.S. It's a powerful exclusive club, and you aren't allowed to join.

Much like the Communist Party in the old USSR, there was a faux government and
a parallel Party of the ruling elite. The oligarchs here weren't against the idea of a
communist state, they just wanted to create one of their own to rule the U.S.

[totodeinhere]

61. We were seeing dire warning about this pandemic at DU even before that.

And that's the tragic thing. The government knew about this for some time and only started to take it seriously in the past few days which may very well be too late.

[denbot]

62. K&R

[MasonDreams]

64. We failed to hold leadership accountable for the torture program, war crimes, and going to war

By telling us Big Stinky Lies.

Three years later no one is in jail for the mass poisoning of Flint Michigan.

And now? Tens of millions with scars in their lungs and 2% of, as many as, 96million infected will die? I'm praying this doesn't happen, but if it does, can we even say with confidence that we can vote them out? When a Texan waits in Houston for seven hours to vote? When lots of folks wait three hours? 21,000 UCLA students get one polling station?
My blue state votes by mail, can we make that a nationwide option in six months? Mail voting fixes the bioterrorism scare problem.

We need free and fair Elections. Open source software? Paper w/o the little bar code squares? I don't care HOW, just make it so.

700+ polling places in Texas closed? 300,000+ voters purged in just Georgia?

Diapers and politicians need to be changed often and for the same reasons.

[peasant one]

65. ask other repubs

Every republican congress person should be asked about the dates they told any donor about the severity of corona virus and its attendant societal impact.

If they were telling donors about how catastrophic this virus would be, why weren't they telling the public and why weren't they doing everything in their power to contradict Trump's perfidy?

Did any of those donors sell stocks after hearing from their congress person?

The public has mocked, humiliated, and forced change upon working-class citizens who hoarded hand sanitizer to sell it at higher prices. Why are these white-collar "masters, lords, and rulers" exempt from this public shaming? When will the reckoning come for them?

[alterfurz]

66. "Richard" to his fellow elite club members; "DICK!" to the rest of us.

[BeckyDem]

67. Funny, because someone told me recently there is no donor class.

Must be a one sided thing? Doesn't look that way.

The Tar Heel Circle, a nonpartisan group of North Carolina businesses and organizations, offers its members “interaction with top leaders and staff from Congress, the administration and the private sector.” Cost of membership ranges from $500 to $10,000, but whatever the amount it was more than worth it on Feb. 27.

That’s the day members of the Tar Heel Circle held a luncheon at the Capitol Hill Club where they heard remarks from North Carolina’s Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee. According to a secret recording obtained by NPR, Burr had a dire message. Even as President Trump was downplaying the threat from the coronavirus that had just arrived in the U.S., the senator warned that the virus was going to spread rapidly, perhaps even on the scale of the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918.

Burr told the Circle members, “There’s one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history. It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.”

Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article241334586.html#storylink=cpy

[BComplex]

69. When he's up for reelection in 4 years, this needs to play over & over, and

someone needs to spell out the consequences of his "elite" reporting. The republicans are always calling democrats "elitists", but this is proof positive. Burr also dumped a couple of million dollars worth of stocks before he let the rest of the country know about this.

[Cha]

70. Oh WOW! Whomever recorded it.. TY!

[ck4829]

72. K&R