Justice Department ends probe of GOP Sen. Burr's stock trades as pandemic arrived

The Justice Department has concluded its probe into questionable stock trades by GOP Sen. Richard Burr related to the coronavirus and will not bring criminal charges.

The conclusion of the case was announced by the North Carolina senator and later confirmed by the department to NBC News. 

"Tonight, the Department of Justice informed me that it has concluded its review of my personal financial transactions conducted early last year," Burr said Tuesday night in a statement. "The case is now closed. I’m glad to hear it."

Burr was among four senators who made stock trades in March 2020 as the pandemic was emerging and they were receiving privileged information, which could have helped them buy or sell stocks that would increase or decrease in value as a result of the virus.

Members of Congress are legally barred from using nonpublic information they obtain through their official positions to personally profit off the stock market, according to CNBC.

The probes into trades by Sens. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, Dianne Feinstein of California, and James Inhofe of Oklahoma were dropped last year.

Burr stepped down from his post as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee amid his probe, in which his cell phone was seized.