LVRJ: Rep. Susie Lee made favorable stock trades before COVID

As coronavirus continues taking its toll on Nevada families, Congresswoman Susie Lee’s #1 priority has been using the crisis to line her own pockets.

The LVRJ reports this weekend that following closed-door briefings to Members of Congress on coronavirus, Congresswoman Susie Lee “made several favorable stock trades,” and that “Lee’s trust continued to make similar sales and purchases in the days leading up to the Feb. 20 market crash.”

The eye-popping report raises new questions after reports surfaced in recent weeks about Lee’s unethical efforts to help her husband secure millions of dollars from the coronavirus relief programs for his out-of-state business interests.

In case you missed it…

Susie Lee trust made favorable stock trades before COVID-19

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Rory Appleton

June 26th, 2020

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/susie-lee-trust-made-favorable-stock-trades-before-covid-19-2062387/

A trust belonging to Nevada Rep. Susie Lee and her husband, Full House Resorts CEO Dan Lee, made several favorable stock trades as Congress underwent early briefings on the coronavirus pandemic in late January, financial disclosures filed by the congresswoman show. …

On Jan. 29, DSL Living Trust sold part of between $1,001-15,000 worth of stock in Graphic Packaging Holding Company, a sustainable paper packaging manufacturer, and between $2,002-30,000 in shares of Targa Resources Inc., a natural gas company.

The trust also purchased between $2,002-30,000 in Grocery Outlet stock on Jan. 28 and Jan. 30.

Early congressional briefings on the pandemic ran from Jan. 24, when the Senate met with top officials, to Jan. 29, when the House did the same. …

Gas and oil have been hit particularly hard during the pandemic, while grocery store sales surged as worried customers began to stock up.

Targa’s stock fell from $38.05 per share on Jan. 29 to a March 18 low of $4.73 before climbing back to $18.18 as of Friday. Graphic Packaging fell from $16.08 on Jan. 29 to $10.57 in March and $13.30 as of Friday.

Grocery Outlet’s stock price has risen from $32.61 on Jan. 30 to $39.40 as of Friday.

Lee’s trust continued to make similar sales and purchases in the days leading up to the Feb. 20 market crash.

These included a Feb. 5 partial sale of $1,001-15,000 worth of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. stock, which fell from $125.09 per share on Feb. 5 to March 23 low of $46.26. The price is currently $79.57. Nexstar owns Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS-TV, Channel 8.

Lee was not included in a Campaign Legal Center analysis that found 12 senators and 37 House representatives traded stock between Feb. 2 and April 8.

The Department of Justice is investigating whether Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., committed insider trading after allegedly selling between $628,000 and $1.72 million in stock on Feb. 13⁠, one week before the stock market crashed.

Three other senators were also investigated, but no charges were filed.

Full report is available here.