Secret Recording Exposes Intelligence General Warning Donors Of The Pandemic 3 Weeks Ago

The Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee privately warned dozens of donors about the devastating impact the coronavirus would have on the United States- three weeks ago, while simultaneously keeping the general public in the dark.

According to a secret recording obtained by NPR, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr is heard giving attendees of a club luncheon a much different message than most federal government officials were expressing to the public.

“There’s one thing that I can tell you about this,” Burr said during the luncheon, “It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history.” Giving the audience a clear comparison, he went on to state, “It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.”

That pandemic in 1918 claimed more than 600,000 lives in America. While Burr’s public comments about the coronavirus at the time were rather calm and tame, he provided facts about the dire reality and seriousness of the virus to members of the Capitol Hill Club, a North Carolina group that consists of heads of businesses and organizations.

According to federal records cited by NPR, the companies with representatives present at the luncheon donated more than $100,000 to Burr’s election campaign in 2015 and 2016.

“Every company should be cognizant of the fact that you may have to alter your travel,” Burr said. “You may have to look at your employees and judge whether the trip they’re making to Europe is essential or whether it can be done on video conference. Why risk it?”

The Intelligence General also gave an early warning that school closings were more than likely going to occur. “There will be, I’m sure, times that communities, probably some in North Carolina, have a transmission rate where they say, let’s close schools for two weeks, everybody stay home,” Burr told the attendees.

This stern and candid warning came from Burr on the very same day Trump was telling Americans that COVID-19 is “going to disappear. One day, It’s like a miracle. It will disappear.”

Burr private warning to the business leaders about effects on travel cane 13 days before the State Department released info on restrictions and 15 days before the Trump administration banned European travelers.

ProPublica reported on yesterday that Sen. Burr also sold off up to 1.6 million in stocks on February 13th, as he was reassuring the public about COVID-19 preparedness measures.