GEORGIA
On January 24th, 2020 the Senate Health Committee got a private, all-senators briefing from administration officials on coronavirus. Among the attendees was Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler from Georgia. The very same day as the briefing, an asset manager for Senator Loeffler began making stock trades. Selling thousands of shares in stocks across multiple sectors.
Elected officials are cloaked in a tremendous amount of privilege. Privileges that afford them information and opportunities not available to you or me. But what happens when our leaders warp who that judgment is for? What happens when those we elect, don’t think we’re paying attention?
For years our norms around elections, ethics, and self dealing have faded into the background. Now in the chaos of 2020, we are seeing story after story of how our leaders protected their political and personal interests first and constituencies second. These stories all have one thing in common—a U.S. Supreme Court unwilling to prosecute unethical behavior and weak federal laws that allow for ethics to fall by the wayside and corruption to fill in the gap.
CREDITS
Made to Fail is produced by The Hub Project, Goat Rodeo, and the Roosevelt Institute.
From the Hub Project, executive producer is Laura Hatalsky. Producers are Sasha Stone, Zach Praiss, Sophie Elliott, and Dan Crawford. Arkadi Gerney is Executive Director. From the Goat Rodeo Team, Executive Producer is Megan Nadolski, Producers are Char Dreyer and Zachary Frank. Ian Enright is Chief Executive Officer. From the Roosevelt Institute, our Senior producer is Steph Sterling.
Our host is Elliot Williams.
This episode was written by Char Dreyer, Elliot Williams, and the good people at the Hub Project.
Special Thanks to Noah Bookbinder, Gordon Witkin, and Lee Drutman.
And if you want to continue the conversation online, find us on social media @MadeToFail on Twitter and Facebook and madetofailpodcast on Instagram.