Washington Post (Bug Me Not) - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has been subpoenaed to turn over personal records and documents as federal authorities step up a probe of his July sales of HCA Inc. stock, according to sources familiar with the investigation.Keep in mind, also, that one of Frist's jobs in the Senate is the shaping of health care policy, so yeah, we're talking about a definite conflict of interest here.
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued the subpoena within the past two weeks, after initial reports that Frist, the Senate's top Republican official, was under scrutiny by the agency and the Justice Department for possible violations of insider trading laws...
The formal request for documents usually presages an acceleration of a federal probe. In Frist's case, regulators had to proceed with caution due to his status in Congress and their mutual desire to avoid triggering constitutional objections to the release of documents. The disclosure of the subpoena comes as Democrats blasted Frist anew for his financial and personal ties to Hospital Corporation of America, a Nashville chain founded in 1968 by his father and his brother, Thomas Frist Jr. Critics yesterday seized on a report that Frist held a substantial amount of his family's hospital stock outside of blind trusts between 1998 and 2002 -- a time when he asserted he did not know how much of the stock he owned.
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Frist earned tens of thousands of dollars from HCA stock in a partnership controlled by his brother, outside of the blind trusts he created to avoid a conflict of interest.
Now, just because a few Republicans have been caught with their hand in the cookie jar as of late I don't want anything to think that we've lost our focus here. The point of this blog is to be the Political Middle. We're here to find the truth; such is our motto after all. Part of that has to do with highlighting politicians with integrity (like McCain), but the flipside means that we also slam those that are more ethically challenged, Republicans AND Democrats.
It just so happens that there's been a real spat of Republicans doing wrong and possibly getting caught it seems.
I just didn't want anyone to get the wrong impression. I think that our resident Republican acolyte, Adam, will be one of the first to admonish Frist if this leads to a conviction.
Via Sploid.
2 comments:
The good doctor now may have the opportunity to use his medical skills in the federal medical clinic. At the very least, Frist should have the decency to step down as leader of his party although he does fit the ethical standards of corporate Republicanism very well. Under the circumstances, Frist can hardly represent the interests of his Tennessee constituents and it would be appropriate for him to surrender the U.S. Senate seat along with a public apology. In addition, to Frist's long-standing deception as his relationship with HCA, it should be noted that this "family" business has engaged in a pattern of fraudulent conduct. For documentation about HCA's history which includes Medicare and Medicaid fraud, check out this link http://tinyurl.com/bdbk7 and read about the unethical and criminal conduct of the Frist "family" business.
Here. Here.
And Logic. Don't forget logic.
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