Politico reports:

Sen. Richard Burr will step down temporarily as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee while under investigation by the FBI for his stock trading, a political earthquake that shocked Republican senators on Thursday and upended the Senate’s daily business.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Burr informed him he would step aside at the end of the day on Friday, news that followed the FBI serving him a search warrant and seizing his cell phone Wednesday evening as part of its investigation into his financial transactions.

The North Carolina Republican told reporters he stepped aside because the investigation is a “distraction to the hard work of the committee, and the members and I think that the security of the country is too important to have a distraction.” He will remain on the committee, a source familiar with the situation said, and his decision to step down for now is not required by the Senate Republican Conference. [Continue reading…]