Georgia's TV news stations virtually ignore new reporting on Sen. David Perdue's stock trading scandal

Local TV news stations in Georgia have virtually ignored new details on Republican Sen. David Perdue’s pandemic stock trading scandal. Since The Associated Press, The New York Times, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported new developments on November 25, only two of the dozens of news stations in Georgia have covered them.

Perdue, who is slated for a runoff election against Democrat Jon Ossoff in January, was one of several senators whose stock trades in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic came under scrutiny for possibly violating insider trading laws. But on November 25, new details about his transactions came to light, focusing on his trading of Cardlytics stocks -- a company where he formerly served on the board and which gave him an unusual stocks deal when he left the board after being elected in 2014.

The Associated Press, citing congressional disclosures, reported that “on Jan. 23, as word spread through Congress that the coronavirus posed a major economic and public health threat, Perdue sold off $1 million to $5 million in Cardlytics stock at $86 a share before it plunged.” He then purchased some of it back after it dropped further, and as of November 24 the company’s stock was worth $121 per share. According to legal experts cited by the AP, “the timing of his sale, the fact that he quickly bought Cardlytics stock back when it had lost two-thirds of its market value and his close ties to company officials all warrant scrutiny.”