WASHINGTON _ Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he isn't speaking to his members about how to steer clear of possible ethics violations during the coronavirus crisis, even as two Senate Republicans are facing accusations of using information from a closed briefing about the looming global pandemic to inform stock sales.
"I don't have any advice about that," the Kentucky Republican recently told McClatchy in an interview. "There's a process for handling complaints and if there are complaints against members, and there are frequently _ many of them bogus, some of them not _ they go to the Senate Ethics Committee."
The Senate Ethics Committee has shown no sign that it is actively pursuing an investigation into the two GOP senators under scrutiny _ Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia.
The bipartisan panel, composed of sitting senators tasked with overseeing the conduct of their colleagues, operates in secrecy, with no obligation to share its inquiries with the public until after an investigation has concluded.
This lack of transparency, coupled with party leadership's hands-off approach, compounds the challenges of focusing on congressional ethical conduct during the coronavirus pandemic, watchdog groups say.
Lisa Gilbert, the vice president of legislative affairs at Public Citizen _ a left-leaning government watchdog group _ called McConnell's relatively muted response "business as usual on Capitol Hill."
"The problem is the same problem we've faced before with the Senate Ethics Committee," she said. "It's members judging members, senators judging senators, and nobody wants the spotlight on them."
Sometimes media attention drives the Senate Ethics Committee to take action, she said.
It was a "60 Minutes" segment in late-2011, for instance, that is widely credited with prompting lawmakers to pass a new law in the spring of 2012 known as the STOCK Act prohibiting members of Congress from using information they derived through their official duties to inform financial transactions.
"It's more important than ever to be keeping a close eye on money in politics and government ethics," said Jordan Libowitz, spokesman for another watchdog group, Citizens Responsible for Ethics in Washington. "Some of the shadiest things happen when everyone's attention is pulled somewhere else."
While CREW has already filed formal complaints against Burr and Loeffler with the Senate Ethics Committee, Libowtz said the organization was "continuing to research" whether the group needs to amend these complaints to include any new information.
CREW also is actively researching whether other members of Congress should be scrutinized for potential ethical misconduct relating to stock sales and the coronavirus, Libowitz said.
According to the Senate Ethics Committee's rules, the panel will launch a "preliminary inquiry" into any credible complaint from "virtually any source" alleging member or staff misconduct.
A former longtime Senate aide close to the Senate Ethics Committee process, who is a Democrat and requested anonymity, told McClatchy that even if it were not for the CREW complaints against Burr and Loeffler, she'd be surprised if the panel wasn't already inclined to look into the allegations.
"I think there is a clear mandate here in this case because I think the facts are pretty strong," she said. "Looking at these types of allegations over the decades against federal officials, this would be the kind of thing that should motivate a call for investigation. There is compelling public interest for (senators) to look at it."
The former aide added, however, that while teleworking mandates would not hinder the Senate Ethics Committee's ability to do investigative work, it is up to the members of committee to decide on how to proceed.
The chairman and vice chairman of the six-member, bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee _ Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., respectively _ declined to comment, their spokespeople citing the strict codes of confidentiality for committee members.
The Senate Ethics Committee staff also did not respond to requests for comment.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said recently "there should be and will be" a Senate Ethics Committee probe into Loeffler and Burr.
But there also is precedent for the Senate Ethics Committee to refrain from launching an investigation into a lawmaker who is already the subject of a federal probe.
In hopes of clearing his name, Burr has asked the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate allegations he used information from a senators' only briefing on the coronavirus in late January to motivate his sale weeks later of up to $1.5 million in stocks, including of hotel chains. The Washington Post has also reported Burr is being investigated by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Both agencies declined to comment to McClatchy.
Burr's spokeswoman, Caitlin Carroll, referred McClatchy on Tuesday to the Senate Ethics Committee for updates on the panel's communications with the senator.
It's currently unknown whether Loeffler, who sold more than $1 million in stocks following the Jan. 24 briefing, is the subject of any federal or congressional investigation. Like Burr, she has said she did nothing wrong and that the stocks she co-owns with her husband _ the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange _ are managed by an outside party that does not consult with the couple about its dealings.
Unlike Burr, she has not publicly requested an Ethics Committee investigation. Her office did not respond to a request for comment.
