Sen. Rand Paul's wife, Kelley, explains her purchase of stock in Gilead Sciences

Greg P. | 8:01 PM on August 13, 2021

Kelley Paul, the wife of Sen. Rand Paul, took to Twitter on Friday to defend her purchase of stock in Gilead Sciences maker of the anti-viral drugRemdesivir, which at the time of her purchase, was thought to be a promising treatment for severe COVID-19 infections:

At the time I invested, the news was full of frightening images of Italian hospitals overrun with Covid. The head of the WHO publicly called Remdesciver a promising treatment, prompting my investment in what I hoped might be a cure. This information was in the news and public.

— Kelley Paul (@KelleyAshbyPaul) August 13, 2021

The issue for the Pauls is that the purchase was disclosed 16 months late, according to the Washington Post:

Sen. Rand Paul revealed Wednesday that his wife bought stock in Gilead Sciences — which makes an antiviral drug used to treat covid-19 — on Feb. 26, 2020, before the threat from the coronavirus was fully understood by the public and before it was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

The disclosure, in a filing with the Senate, came 16 months after the 45-day reporting deadline set forth in the Stock Act, which is designed to combat insider trading.

As for her purchasing the stock on February 26, that’s two days after the announcement by the WHO. From The Street on February 24:

Shares of Gilead $GILD are up over 3% after WHO said the drugmaker's antiviral remdesivir may be effective against the coronavirus. @SonenshineJ breaks it down. https://t.co/B7CmjYvGtJ pic.twitter.com/eDt7vobNkn

— TheStreet (@TheStreet) February 24, 2020

She also wanted people to know that she’s not anti-vaxx:

Sadly remdesciver was not a cure, but my small investment in it, in which the stock price dropped after I bought it, was based on encouraging info from the WHO. I would like to correct another falsehood. While Rand and I are against forced vaccination, we are not “anti-vaxx.

— Kelley Paul (@KelleyAshbyPaul) August 13, 2021

And she and her elderly parents both got vaccinated for COVID-19:

I got my elderly parents vaccinated as soon as it was available to them, and I myself chose to be vaccinated earlier this summer. That said, I believe everyone should be free to make that choice themselves, without fear of bullying, shaming, and threats.

— Kelley Paul (@KelleyAshbyPaul) August 13, 2021

Well said.

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