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Former Atlanta Dream star Angel McCoughtry defends owner Kelly Loeffler

By Bela Kirpalani

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and her husband Jeff Sprecher wait for the beginning of a ceremonial swearing-in at the Old Senate Chamber of the U.S. Capitol January 6, 2020 in Washington, DC. Sen. Loeffler was appointed to the seat to succeed former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), who resigned for health reasons. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and her husband Jeff Sprecher wait for the beginning of a ceremonial swearing-in at the Old Senate Chamber of the U.S. Capitol January 6, 2020 in Washington, DC. Sen. Loeffler was appointed to the seat to succeed former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), who resigned for health reasons. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) /
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Loeffler, co-owner of the Dream and Georgia senator, has been accused of insider trading

To say that co-owner of the Atlanta Dream Kelly Loeffler has been increasing her public profile in 2020 would be a bit of an understatement.

In January, Loeffler was selected as incumbent Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)’s successor in the United States Congress. A political outsider for most of her life, the new junior senator’s appointment was received as a slightly disappointing decision among the GOP elite as Loeffler — an owner of a women’s basketball team in one of the most progressive leagues in the country — was seen as too moderate.

Since then, Loeffler has made a concerted effort to vigorously promote her Republican ideals, emphasizing that she is pro-2nd Amendment, pro-military, pro-wall, pro-Trump, and “strongly pro-life.”

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But last month, Loeffler was in the headlines once more, after it was reported that she dumped around $3 million in stocks after attending a briefing about the coronavirus and its potential negative impact on the economy and stock market. While Loeffler was allegedly selling stocks, she was also downplaying the coronavirus to the public.

In a new report on Wednesday, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution found that Loeffler’s largest transactions actually “involve $18.7 million in sales of Intercontinental Exchange stock in three separate deals dated Feb. 26 and March 11.”

In addition to being the owner of the Dream and a U.S. Senator, Loeffler is also a former Intercontinental Exchange executive and married to the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, which is owned by the Intercontinental Exchange.

When Loeffler was announced as the next junior senator of Georgia, many around the WNBA remained silent on the decision and on Loeffler’s politics, as Lindsay Gibbs reported in her newsletter, Power Plays. However, following the accusation of insider trading, the Dream’s former star player Angel McCoughtry expressed her support for Loeffler in a note she tweeted on Thursday.

Her message read:

“I love Kelly Loeffler. She has done nothing but give give give!! She has helped us women continue to maintain a job even when she had made nothing in return. Kelly has always had my back when I needed her, And she would have yours too. I will never judge a person on their political views. That’s what makes the world unique. We get so caught up on what’s going wrong. I remember the million things Kelly has done right.”

McCoughtry was selected by the Dream with the No. 1 pick in 2009 and led the team to the WNBA Finals in 2010, 2011 and 2013. She was signed by the Las Vegas Aces as an unrestricted free agent in February.

Loeffler purchased the Dream franchise in 2011 with business partner Mary Brock and mostly stayed out of the spotlight, preferring to donate money to mostly Republican political committees — until she decided to become more involved in politics herself. Loeffler has since denied the insider trading allegations and her office has stated that “investment decisions are made by multiple third-party advisers without her or her husband’s knowledge or involvement.”

Loeffler is not the only senator who has been accused of insider trading — Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) have also been named. The Justice Department has begun working with the Securities and Exchange Commission to look into Sen. Burr and an ethics group has called for Loeffler to be investigated.

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