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Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz said on Monday that Sen. Richard Burr has received unfairly favorable treatment in retaining his powerful position when compared to former Rep. Katie Hill, who resigned after having an inappropriate affair with a staffer.

Burr, a North Carolina Republican who is the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was revealed last week to have sold up to $1.7 million in stocks last month just days ahead of the sharp market decline stemming from the novel coronavirus pandemic. He has asked the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate and has not stepped away from any of his roles.

.@KatieHill4CA gets run out of Congress for screwing a campaign staffer absent any complaint, Gaetz tweeted. @SenatorBurr stays as Intelligence Chairman after screwing all Americans by falsely reassuring us w opeds on #COVID while he dumped his stock portfolio early. This is not fair.

A week before his stock sell-off, Burr co-wrote an op-ed, titled Coronavirus prevention steps the U.S. government is taking to protect you, asserting that the US was better prepared than ever before to face emerging public health threats, like the coronavirus. Burr said Friday that he did not base his sales on any information he received as chairman of the Intelligence Committee and requested that an ethics investigation be opened into the trades.

A source familiar with the matter told CNN that the committee did not receive briefings on the virus the week of Burrs stock sales.

Burr refused to answer CNNs questions earlier on Monday about the controversial stock sales. When asked whether he could see that there would be an optics problem with the chairman of the intelligence committee making such sales, Burr replied, Ill leave that up the Ethics Committee.

Gaetzs tweet said that treament was not fair compared to the backlash Hill faced.

In October, the one-term California Democrat resigned from Congress days after she admitted to having an inappropriate relationship with a campaign staffer before coming into office.

The House Committee on Ethics had previously announced that it was opening an investigation into allegations Hill engaged in an improper relationship with a congressional staffer in possible violation of House rules banning relationships between members and their staff. The probe was announced after a conservative blog had released intimate photos of Hill, alleging she and her husband had a separate relationship with an unnamed female campaign staffer.

When the Ethics Committee announced its investigation, Gaetz defended Hill, writing in a tweet, Who among us would look perfect if every ex leaked every photo/text? Katie isnt being investigated by Ethics or maligned because she hurt anyone it is because she is different.

Hill was the first openly bisexual member of Congress from California.

Hill said that Kenny Heslep, her estranged husband of nine years, was trying to humiliate her by sharing the photographs after the couple filed for divorce. She expressed feelings of frustration over a double standard in her final speech on the House floor as a member of Congress.

I am leaving now because of a double standard, Hill said. I am leaving because I no longer want to be used as a bargaining chip. I am leaving because I didnt want to be peddled by papers and blogs and websites, used by shameless operatives for the dirtiest gutter politics that Ive ever seen.

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Republican congressman thinks Burr is getting a better deal than ex-lawmaker who resigned: 'This is not fair' - KRDO

Aaron E. Carroll and Ashish Jha: This is how we can beat the coronavirus

The disparity between the parties was underscored Thursday afternoon when Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and California Governor Gavin Newsom, both Democrats, issued rapid-fire orders closing down all non-essential businesses, first in the city and then in the entire state, a jurisdiction of 39.5 million people.

This divergence reflects not only ideological but also geographic realities. So far, the greatest clusters of the disease, and the most aggressive responses to it, have indeed been centered in a few large, Democratic-leaning metropolitan areas, including Seattle, New York, San Francisco, and Boston. At Thursdays White House press briefing, Deborah Birx, the administrations response coordinator, said half of the nations cases so far are located in just 10 counties. The outbreaks eventual political effects may vary significantly depending on how extensively it spreads beyond these initial beachheads.

If the virus never becomes pervasive beyond big cities, that could reinforce the sense among many Republican voters and office-holders that the threat has been overstated. It could also fuel the kind of xenophobia that Trump and other GOP leaders, such as Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, have encouraged by labeling the disease the Chinese virus or the Wuhan virus.

Theres a long history of conservatives demonizing the cities as sources of disease to threaten the pure heartland, says Geoffrey Kabaservice, the director of political studies at the libertarian Niskanen Center and the author of Rule and Ruin, a history of the modern Republican Party. Thats an old theme. So that could be how it goes down.

David Frum: No empathy, only anger

Conversely, the charge that Trump failed to move quickly enough may cut more deeply if the burden of the disease is heavily felt in the smaller communities where his support is deepest. Most medical experts believe that, eventually, the outbreak will reach all corners of the country, including the mostly Republican-leaning small towns and rural areas that are now less visibly affected.

Theres no reason to think that smaller communities will be protected from it, Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told me. It may take longer for it to get there, but as long as there are people coming and going the virus will eventually find its way to rural communities as well.

Still, some experts believe that, throughout the outbreak, the greatest effects will remain localized in large urban centers. The bottom line is, every epidemic is local, and the social networks and the physical infrastructure in any specific geographic area will determine the spread of the epidemic, Jeffrey D. Klausner, a professor of medicine and public health at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, told me. Particularly, respiratory viruses are dependent on close social networks and are going to spread much more efficiently in crowded, densely populated urban areas.

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Red and Blue America Arent Experiencing the Same Pandemic - The Atlantic

Martha McSallyMartha Elizabeth McSallyPolitics and the pandemic Republicans are rightly worried NRSC outraises DSCC in February Florida Republican becomes first lawmaker to test positive for coronavirus MORE complained it was "inexcusable" the president was so "unprepared" for the virus epidemic: "Real leadership means taking action before there's a crisis."

No, the Arizona Republican then a Congresswoman wasn't talking about President TrumpDonald John TrumpBlame game heats up as Senate motion fails Trump approves disaster declaration for coronavirus in California Why studying persistent post-traumatic headaches in soldiers matter MORE's tragic failure to respond early to the Coronavirus pandemic: It was 2014, and she was assailing Barack Obama on the Ebola scare.

On the infinitely more serious current crisis, McSally now a Senator gushes about Trump's "decisive" leadership.

The politics of Coronavirus, which isshutting down much of the country, throwing the economy into a tailspin and threatening the health of perhaps millions of Americans, will play out in the weeks and months ahead. The downside is with Trump and Republicans.

This may be especially troublesome for a half dozen embattled incumbent Republican senators who savaged Obama for his handling of the Ebola health scare six years ago. Today, they are rallying behind the president.

That's not easy.

Few presidents have botched a crisis the way Trump did for almost two months. The administration already had downgraded resources for addressing a pandemic, an issue of little interest to Trump until it finally dawned on himthat the United States faces the most severe health crisis since the Influenza of 1918 which killed 675,000 Americans.

As enumerated by David Leonhardt for the New York Times, Trump repeatedly and recklessly dismissed this pandemic as a nothingburger. On Jan. 22, he declared it was "totally under control." Over the next few weeks he insisted only a handful of Americans would be affected by the virus, that when spring arrives it miraculously goes away, that it was a fiction of fake news and a Democratic hoax," like impeachment.

Only two weeks ago, he falsely claimed there was sufficient testing for everyone.

Eleven days ago finally he gave an address to a nervous country. The speech, apparently crafted by his often-clueless son-in-law Jared KushnerJared Corey KushnerPolitics and the pandemic Republicans are rightly worried In the Saudi-Russian oil price war, the US blinks first Coronavirus could keep Trump in the White House MORE, lacked a sense of crisis and made misrepresentations which had to be corrected.

As our American Nero calculated the political impact on his reelection, here's what transpired: The first reported case in the U.S. was on Jan. 20 in two months, this has soared to more than 26,000 cases with 340 deaths. These numbers are expected to climb sharply over the next few months. Worldwide, the total now over 316,000 cases.

Let's contrast that with the Republican uproar over the Ebola scare in 2014. That was chiefly an African plague affecting 28,000 people, a fraction of the toll Coronavirus already has taken. In the United States there were a grand total of 11 people infected and four deaths.

Yet in mid-October of that year, I was in North Carolina covering a Senate race at an event dominated by Republican Thom TillisThomas (Thom) Roland TillisPolitics and the pandemic Republicans are rightly worried Brady PAC endorses Biden, plans to spend million in 2020 McConnell cancels Senate break over coronavirus MORE's denunciation of Obama's dangerous dereliction on the Ebola crisis, putting he claimed a political hack in charge of meeting the challenge.The so-called hack was Ron Klain, a business executive and former Supreme Court clerk as well as political counselor; he's widely credited with successfully marshaling a multi-billion effort to stem the epidemic.

Six years later, Tillis is singing a different tune for an infinitely more serious matter; running for reelection, he praises Trump's "decisive leadership," and calls for the countrys leaders "to set aside our partisan differences."

Tillis and McSally aren't the only two-faced politicians on this score.In 2014, Iowa Republican Senate candidate Joni ErnstJoni Kay ErnstPolitics and the pandemic Republicans are rightly worried Ernst calls for public presidential campaign funds to go to masks, protective equipment GOP lukewarm on talk of airline bailout MORE was outraged at Obama being "apathetic" and merely "reactive" and questioned whether he really cared about the safety of the American people. She has been silent on Trump's dawdling and denying and wants a bi-partisan partnership.Georgia Republican Sen. David Purdue six years ago bemoaned a "lack of leadership." Now he says Vice President Pence, who is in charge of the administration's policies, is doing a "fantastic job."

Republicans enjoy a 53-47 Senate advantage, and the conventional wisdom is they'll lose no more than a net of one or two seats and retain control. Those odds changed a few weeks ago when Montana's popular Democratic Governor, Steve BullockSteve BullockPolitics and the pandemic Republicans are rightly worried The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden moves to unify party before general election Poll shows Daines, Bullock neck and neck in Montana Senate race MORE, after resisting for a year, jumped in the Senate race to face a colorless Republican incumbent.

Now the terrible pandemic crisis will complicate the election prospects for the likes of Tillis, McSally and Ernst, maybe others.

Their only hope on this issue is voters have a short memory.

Al Hunt is the former executive editor of Bloomberg News. He previously served as reporter, bureau chief and Washington editor for the Wall Street Journal. For almost a quarter century he wrote a column on politics for The Wall Street Journal, then the International New York Times and Bloomberg View. Follow him on Twitter@AlHuntDC.

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Politics and the pandemic Republicans are rightly worried | TheHill - The Hill

The Maine Republican Party will move ahead with a petition drive to try to block a ranked form of voting as much of the state shuts down due to coronavirus.

Mainers are scheduled to use ranked-choice voting in a presidential election for the first time in November.

The voting system allows people to pick second-choice candidates, and redistributes votes in a run-off style ranked round.

Republican opponents of the voting method have been gathering signatures to try to force a peoples veto vote about the law that allows ranked-choice presidential elections. They need 63,000 signatures by June to get the veto on the ballot. If its on the ballot, Maine wont use ranked choice for the presidential election this year.

Signature gatherers had been turning up at public events, such as Election Day polls, but Maine Republican Chair Demi Kouzounas said they will now bring petitions direct to potential signers. They will take necessary precautions in doing so, she said.

We are doing drive-thru stop-and-sign events in areas where people can stop and sign while following social distancing guidelines, pens are single-use, hand sanitizer being used, everything is outside, etc., Maine Republican executive director Jason Savage said. Tactical shift.

For most people, COVID-19 results in only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. People with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover, according to the World Health Organization.

Maines the only state in the U.S. with ranked-choice voting. Petitioners are about half way to their signature goal, the Maine Republican Party said.

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Maine Republicans to continue petition drive to block ranked-choice voting - Press Herald

His aides had never been told Mr. Paul might have been exposed to the virus or had been tested for it, according to a person familiar with the situation, and some began to fear that they could have contracted it and spread it to their friends and family before the office began working remotely, days after Mr. Paul attended the fund-raiser. Mr. Paul attended the fund-raiser on a Saturday and arrived in Washington the next Monday evening. His office closed to work remotely three days later.

Senior officials in Mr. Pauls Washington office told their staffs that none of them were at risk, the person said. But the aides remained livid that they were informed of Mr. Pauls exposure only minutes before their office publicly announced his positive test results.

Despite the panic prompted by Mr. Pauls announcement, on Monday, debate on the Senate floor proceeded mostly as usual albeit in more fiery terms with lawmakers filing into the chamber to vote and sitting in their desks next to one another. But the specter of the coronavirus weighed heavily over the proceedings.

As Mr. Durbin concluded a speech with his call for remote voting, Senator Jim Risch, Republican of Idaho, approached him. Both men kept their arms crossed, and Mr. Durbin slowly backed away step by step as they spoke, creating more and more distance between them.

Mr. Pauls announcement appeared to have won over some converts for the idea of remote voting. Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who had previously shrugged off the suggestion, took to Twitter to offer his support for the idea.

We should make this change before the Senate leaves town, Mr. Graham wrote.

There is no indication that House or Senate leaders are moving toward doing so. A report released Monday night by Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts and the chairman of the House Rules Committee, underscored the hurdles both technical and legal such a move would create, and instead recommended using existing practices, like adopting legislation by unanimous consent.

For now, senators are maintaining their routine albeit from a substantial distance, and under considerably more stress.

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Rand Pauls Positive Coronavirus Test Sets the (Still Meeting) Senate on Edge - The New York Times