Republican Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina is stepping aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee while he's under investigation for stock trades he made ahead of the market downturn triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

CNN reports that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement on the issue Thursday, saying that Burr contacted him that morning "to inform me of his decision to step aside as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee during the pendency of the investigation."

"We agreed that this decision would be in the best interests of the committee and will be effective at the end of the day tomorrow," McConnell said.

The FBI served Burr with a search warrant and seized a cell phone belonging to the North Carolina Republican on Wednesday, The Los Angeles Times reported, as part of the FBI's investigation into lawmaker stock trades.