Justice Department Ends Probe Into 3 Senators Who Sold Stock After January Coronavirus Briefing

The Department of Justice is reportedly dropping its investigation into three senators who cumulatively sold off millions of dollars in stock after a private briefing on the novel coronavirus in late January — before the markets, and the country's economy, crashed.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on Tuesday that the DOJ was ending its insider-trading probe of Sens. Kelly Loeffler, of Georgia, and James Inhofe, of Oklahoma, as well as California Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

The move was also confirmed by the Associated Press and CNN.

Initial reporting about the sales, in March, drew widespread criticism from liberals and conservatives. The lawmakers insisted they did nothing wrong despite the optics.

“Today’s clear exoneration by the Department of Justice affirms what Senator Loeffler has said all along — she did nothing wrong," a spokesperson for Loeffler told the Journal. "This was a politically-motivated attack shamelessly promoted by the fake news media and her political opponents."

The Justice Department declined to comment to PEOPLE. But the Journal report's sources said the department will continue its investigation into Sen. Richard Burr for his own sell-offs.

Burr sent a letter in March to the Senate Ethics Committee requesting a full investigation into his own financial decisions.

“While I relied solely on public reporting to guide my decision to sell the stock, it is my belief that an independent review is warranted to ensure full and complete transparency,” he wrote.

“Senator Burr filed a financial disclosure form for personal transactions made several weeks before the U.S. and financial markets showed signs of volatility due to the growing coronavirus outbreak,” the senator’s spokesperson said in a March statement to ProPublica. “As the situation continues to evolve daily, he has been deeply concerned by the steep and sudden toll this pandemic is taking on our economy.” (A spokesperson did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on Wednesday.)

The department's probe is reportedly centered around the senators-only briefing on the novel coronavirus on Jan. 24, roughly six and a half weeks before President Donald Trump gave a televised White House address on the pandemic on March 11.

Mid-March was also when widespread shutdowns began taking effect, slowing the economy.

Reports by ProPublica, The Daily Beast and The New York Times showed that Loeffler and Burr sold off at least hundreds of thousands in stock in the weeks following the exclusive briefing.

RELATED: Multiple Lawmakers Sold Thousands in Stock After a Coronavirus Briefing in January: Reports

Mark Wilson/Getty Images Sen. Richard Burr

Feinstein and Inhofe were also investigated for their own sell-offs in the days and weeks following the meeting, though both senators weren't in attendance at the Jan. 24 briefing and said they aren't directly involved with their investment decisions.

Feinstein's office declined to comment on the report that the DOJ had moved away from her in its probe. Spokespeople for Inhofe and Loeffler did not respond.

Despite clearing three of the four lawmakers of its inquiry, according to reports, the DOJ has ramped up its investigation into Burr in recent weeks.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the FBI seized Burr's cellphone in mid-May as part of its investigation.

Earlier this month NPR reported that he was privately warning his constituents about the dire danger of the pandemic while simultaneously instilling confidence publicly that the U.S. would be able to weather the virus. All the while, CBS News reports Burr sold off between $600,000 to $1.7 million in stocks over 30 transactions between late January and mid-February.

The stock market started to spiral in late February, about two weeks after Burr’s Feb. 13 sales. The North Carolina Republican stepped down as the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman earlier this month.

Alex Wong/Getty Images Sen. Kelly Loeffler

Yahoo Finance reported on Wednesday that some 38 million Americans have filed for unemployment over the last nine weeks, as the COVID-19 pandemic essentially closed shop on vast swaths of the economy.

At the same time, the New York Times reports at least 99,000 have died in the U.S. due to the virus while the worldwide death toll surpassed 350,000 this week.

News of the senators' stock sales drew heavy criticism from rival politicians.

“It is stomach-churning that the first thoughts these Senators had to a dire & classified #COVID briefing was how to profit off this crisis,” Democratic lawmaker Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on March 19. “They didn’t mobilize to help families, or prep response. They dumped stock. Sen. Loeffler needs to resign, too.”

Upon her clearance by the DOJ, Loeffler began touting her exoneration on Twitter and blamed the investigation on politics. She is currently seeking election after being named to the vacant senate seat by Georgia's governor in December.

"Just like [President Trump], I’ve been completely and totally exonerated," Loeffler tweeted Wednesday morning., alongside a popular GIF of former Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Nick Young celebrating as he unknowingly misses a basket. "Live look at the fake news media, career politicians, and Swamp elites who thought they were going to take me down."

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