If you ever wondered how public servants get so rich serving the public, or why the Senate and House are filled with so many millionaires, part of the answer is that they are often privy to knowledge not available to the rest of us. Knowledge is power and it can also be very profitable if you are among the legislators who can take advantage of it before any of us common folk hear about it. Just ask Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., who exploited knowledge provided in a private briefing about the Wuhan virus and its possible impact and along with her husband sold stock worth millions just before the Chinese Wuhan virus spread worldwide and tanked global markets.

The Daily Beast reported Thursday that Loeffler sold stock that was owned by her and her husband on Jan. 24, the same day she sat in on a closed-door coronavirus briefing as a member of the Senate Health Committee with the Trump administration, with Dr. Anthony Fauci in attendance.

According to the report, she sold stock in Resideo Technologies "worth between $50,001 and $100,000." The company's stock price "has fallen by more than half" since January.

In addition, 27 out of 29 transactions in February by her and her husband were sales. One stock purchase was in a company called Citrix, a teleworking software company, and was worth between $100,000 and $250,000. The company's stock, as The Daily Beast noted, had seen a bump since the virus outbreak grew.

The report also claims Loeffler and her husband sold jointly-owned stock worth between $1,275,000 and $3,100,000 during the Jan. 24-Feb. 14 timespan, according to filed transactions.

Her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, is chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.

In her defense, Loeffler says her portfolio is handled by a blind trust. This is the standard defense of the elites who point out that they are rich enough to pay others ti handle their money so if something smells, talk to them. Most people don’t have blind trusts. But sometimes they have blind and misguided faith in their leaders.

The stock was sold the same day after a private briefing. The sale was accomapnied by one purchase -- the stock of a company whose technology allows people to interact with health officials and doctors and work from home.  A good investment for those with inside knowledge of the Wuhan flu’s impact. As she prepares to vote on which of her constituents get a measly $1,000 check, she was Making sure her financial ducks were all in a row. There are too many coincidences here that remind one of Hillary Clinton’s adage that rules and laws are for the little people.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp surprised many with the appointment of Kelly Loeffler, not former Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., and formerly ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, who valiantly defended President Trump against the deep-state coup, to fill the Senate seat and finish the term of Sen. Johnny Isakson, who is leaving the Senate for medical reasons. Loeffler did end  up voting to acquit President Trump in his impeachment trial,  yet conservatives have questioned her bona fides based on her past associations with Utah RINO Sen. Mitt Romney and Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, whom President Trump helped Kemp defeat. Collins is challenging Loeffler for a full Senate term in the currently delayed Georgia Republican primary

Collins will certainly have plenty of ammunition with this revelation of swamp creature activity. President Trump campaigned on draining the Washington D.C. swamp and Loeffler, it would appear, went to Washington to wallow in it., to take advantage of special knowledge of an impending killer pandemic that would take down the global economy to safeguard her family’s financial future, even as she prepared to debate bills outlining what meager relief the America people and her constituents might get. While Americans are literally fighting for their lives amidst an uncertain and chaotic economic future, Kelly Loeffler decided to take decisive action to safeguard her family portfolio in a classic bit of insider trading. She, and others like her, are a national embarrassment, as she is to her party and President Trump.

Loeffler’s selection by Kemp was an odd way to pay Trump back for holding a Kemp rally and helping him to victory in a contested gubernatorial election against Democrat Stacey Abrams. Collins showed himself to be a staunch Trump defender and genuine conservative:

Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp nominated business executive Kelly Loeffler for the Senate on Wednesday despite President Donald Trump and the conservative base’s concerns regarding her ties to Planned Parenthood, Stacey Abrams, and previous Democrat donors.

Gov. Kemp  tapped Loeffler to replace the outgoing Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), who will retire at the end of December. Loeffler will reportedly describe herself as “pro-Trump” despite conservative criticism of her as well as her lack of support for the president during the 2016 presidential election….

The Family Research Council (FRC) was the latest pro-life organization to express concern over Loeffler’s lack of pro-life credentials.

Family Research Council Action President Tony Perkins said in a statement Tuesday:

“Family Research Council Action is concerned about the likelihood that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is considering a candidate to fill the remaining term of Senator Johnny Isakson that has no public record validating a conservative political ideology. While Governor Kemp does have a conservative pro-family record, Kelly Loeffler does not.”

Despite assurances concerning her adherence to core conservative values and Trump’s drain-the-swamp agenda, Loeffler, the CEO of Bakkt, a bitcoin trading and a storage platform, has been all over the map on whom she donates to and supports, a record in stark contrast to that of the steadfast  Collins, for whom Donald Trump Jr. held a fundraiser:

Donald Trump Jr., President Trump’s son, hosted a fundraiser for Collins in late October and said in November that Collins “is a fighter and exactly the kind of person Republicans should want in the Senate. We need someone who gets it, not someone who will have to learn on the job.”…

Loeffler donated $750,000 during the 2012 presidential election to Romney super PAC Restore Our Future. The financial executive has also donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to former Speaker Ryan’s political campaigns and PACs. Now, when the question of her potential Senate appointment has come to media attention, Loeffler donated $100,000 to Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee that is raising funds for the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC)….

Loeffler is the co-owner and co-chairman of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Atlanta Dream.

After the Trump administration announced plans in 2018 to cut family planning funding from abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood, WNBA President Lisa Borders said that she and the league “stands with Planned Parenthood.”

Loeffler’s Atlanta Dream has also pushed back on some socially conservative policies in Georgia.

In 2016, The Atlanta Dream was one of more than 100 businesses and universities that opposed state Sen. Josh McKoon’s (R-GA) Religious Freedom Restoration Act that would protect companies’ and Americans’ religious freedom.

Trump once said that he donated to both Democrats and Republicans because he said he never knew in his business dealings who he would need a favor from. Loeffler’s associations are more ideological and contrary to anything President Trump now has in mind:

Loeffler has even donated to many Democrats, including former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and America Coming Together political group, which was primarily funded by George Soros and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Say what? Politics is said to make strange bedfellows, but Soros and Loeffler making common cause together?

Rep. Collins’ colleague Republican Matt Gaetz has warned Kemp that picking Loeffler may make him a one-and-done governor with no political future once Loeffler is free to vote her true conscience:

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, said that Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is ending his political career by nominating business executive Kelly Loeffler over Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA).

Kemp is known for his pro-life views and his support for restriction on conception-to-birth abortion-on-demand. So why did he nominate Loeffler, whose positions are not even close:

Many conservative and pro-life groups across the political spectrum have come out to oppose Loeffler’s nomination to the U.S. Senate. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the SBA List, objected to Loeffler’s position as a member of the board of directors of the Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Dannenfelser called the hospital an “abortionist training hub.”

“Kelly Loeffler should be disqualified as a GA Senate appointment. She’s on the board of Grady Memorial Hospital, largest abortion provider in the state,” Dannenfelser said. “Grady is an abortionist training hub. Its doctors are leading advocates AGAINST @BrianKempGA pro-life laws.”

Loeffler may not be the lone senator taking advantage of inside knowledge of the Wuhan virus:

California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein took to Twitter on Friday to deny she did anything improper when she sold between $1.5 million and $6 million in a biotechnology company’s stock before the market crashed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The New York Times reported that Feinstein and three other senators sold large amounts of stock in late January and early February, as federal officials publicly downplayed the threat of the virus. The sales came shortly after Trump administration officials provided classified briefings to senators on the threat from the virus, the Times and other media outlets reported….

Feinstein’s comments came as a furor erupted around reports of stock sales by GOP Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, chairman of the Intelligence Committee. He and his wife sold 33 stocks on Feb. 13 worth a total $628,000 to $1.7 million, according to media reports, including more than $200,000 in hotel chain stocks. Many of the stocks have plunged in value since the pandemic struck the U.S.

Shame on them all. With Loeffler, voters will have a chance to rectify Kemp’s error by picking Collins in the primary with one very important additional reason: he has not profited from a national emergency using information meant to help protect the welfare of the American people.

Daniel John Sobieski is a former editorial writer for Investor’s Business Daily and freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Human Events, Reason Magazine, and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.