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Greater transparency in government dealings is almost always in the public’s interest. It provides us with more complete information on which to base our judgments — as we’re learning from every subsequent revelation emerging from the recent FBI search of Mar-a-Lago.

It’s no less true in the case of our own Sen. Richard Burr of Winston-Salem, whose dealings in the stock market as COVID became a major concern led to an FBI investigation.

On Tuesday, a less-redacted version of a federal search warrant was released, revealing that Burr and his wife avoided a loss of at least $87,000 “as a result of well-timed stock sales” in February 2020. They also profited by at least $164,000.

The Burrs began selling stocks, including shares of corporations that were battered during the early months of the pandemic, just ahead, by hours, of the declaration of COVID-19 as a national public-health emergency, made by U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar on Jan. 31, 2020.

Had they hesitated by even a day, they would have taken a significant loss.

Further suspicious sales and purchases followed.

The less-redacted search warrant (approved by then-U.S. Attorney General William Barr, which allowed FBI agents to confiscate Burr’s phone) also revealed Burr’s defense for the sale: “Senator Burr explained that he was uncomfortable with a lot of things in the market and other things generally happening around the world; that Burr discussed the fact that there had been a long bull market and that it was due for a correction; and that the surge of (U.S. Sen.) Bernie Sanders in the Democratic party’s nomination process was a risk to the market.” Burr also claimed concern about how the virus could affect the supply chains of U.S. companies that were dependent on Chinese suppliers.

We’d like to think that’s all there is to it. The possibility that Burr was involved in insider trading and securities fraud — the potential offenses described in the warrant — is disappointing to many in his hometown, even among those who sit on the other side of the political divide, who still thought of him as honorable.

The damage to his reputation, as we’ve said before, is a sad note on which to end his congressional career.

But as the investigation continues, it’s hard to avoid concluding that more was at work than business savvy and coincidence — and it’s hard to avoid a sense of betrayal of the trust many placed in him.

This is one instance in which “whataboutism” may be a sympathetic defense. Republican and Democratic legislators are regularly exposed to privileged information, and many walk away from public service with much more in their bank accounts than when they began — sometimes millions more. The temptation to avoid impending financial loss — and to profit — may be overwhelming. Indeed, Burr wasn’t the only U.S. senator to sell off stocks as COVID grew more troublesome.

Some have suggested that legislators should be banned from trading stock while serving. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., introduced legislation in 2018 to ban members of Congress and White House staff from owning individual stocks, which she renewed in 2020. Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia co-sponsored similar legislation with Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy in 2020.

Considering that only about 15% of the American public owns individual stocks — and considering both the temptation and the possible damage to reputations — we think it’s a proposal worth serious consideration.

Today’s editorial is from The Greensboro News & Record. The views expressed are not necessarily those of this newspaper.

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