McGrath campaign: Mitch, Why Were You Silent When Americans’ Lives Were at Risk?

“Sen. McConnell has the highest security clearance in this country. What did he know and when?”
 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – As reports emerged today that the president knew how dangerous the coronavirus could be as early as late January, retired Marine Lt. Col. Amy McGrath demanded answers from Sen. Mitch McConnell, the highly unpopular senator she is running to replace.

We now know there was a “jarring” intelligence briefing on Jan. 28 that discussed how dangerous this virus could be. Four days before that, on Jan. 24, senators were offered the chance to be briefed. 

“Either McConnell did not go and learn about this emerging threat, or he went and said nothing about it to the American people,” McGrath said. “If he did go, it’s incomprehensible he said nothing for almost a full month about the virus. If McConnell didn’t go, he should be ashamed that he didn’t think protecting people’s lives and livelihoods was worth a few hours of his day. Senator, what did you know?”

McGrath noted that by the time McConnell did speak up, the gravity of threat was known worldwide, and yet he downplayed it. 

“At the very end of February, after members of the Senate were briefed numerous times about this threat, McConnell told Americans we had nothing to worry about and did not make any public statements warning us about the threat," McGrath said. "I have a simple question for Sen. McConnell: why were you silent when Americans’ lives were at risk?”

FACTS

January-February 2020: Members Of The Senate Intelligence Committee Were Receiving Regular Briefings About The Spread Of COVID. Politico reported, “By February, the House and Senate Intelligence Committees had been receiving updates from the intelligence community about the spread of the virus for about a month. The first staff-level briefings, updates and written products from the intelligence community began in January and roughly coincided with the first public reports to emerge about the outbreak, said two Democratic aides. Those updates increased throughout February, and by March were being pushed to the House panel on a daily basis.” [Politico, 3/30/20]

• McConnell Was An Ex Officio Member Of The Senate Intelligence Committee. According to the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, “Members … Ex Officio: Mitch McConnell, Kentucky, Majority Leader.” [U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, accessed 9/9/20]

Mid-January: Senators and McConnell’s Staff made personal Stock Trades: According to Politico: “Previously unreported lawmakers who sold assets in the weeks leading up to the market crash include Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.), who unloaded thousands of dollars of stock in Alaska Air and Royal Caribbean cruises. A senior aide to Sen. Mitch McConnell made a mid-January purchase of Moderna, Inc., a biotechnology company that had four days earlier announced it would begin developing a coronavirus vaccine….The trades show that -- as much of the public was blindsided by both the pandemic and the economic meltdown over the last two weeks -- a number of lawmakers, aides and their brokers helping manage their portfolios adjusted their investments.” {Politico, 3/23/20]

February 27, 2020: McConnell Said That The United States Was “Not Facing An Immediate Crisis” Due To COVID. According to a C-SPAN video, Senator Mitch McConnell said, “The continued spread of the Coronavirus, COVID-19, as the world all knows it. Here in the United States, we’re fortunate not to be facing an immediate crisis. “ [C-SPAN, 0:25, 2/27/20]

Mid-March--Economy Starts To Shut Down: “With confirmed cases of the coronavirus escalating rapidly, government officials have almost overnight switched off activity in large sectors of the United States. They want as few people as possible in close contact with one another in order to slow the pandemic, which may be even more widespread than official statistics suggest.” [NY Times, 3/22/20]