Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has long harbored aspirations to make the move up from Congress to the White House, but the ongoing SEC investigation into his sale of hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock in a company run by his brother is casting a shadow on these ambitions. Jeffrey H. Birnbaum‘s front page article in tomorrow’s issue of The Washington Post does little to help Frist’s case.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) was given considerable information about his stake in his family’s hospital company, according to records that are at odds with his past statements that he did not know what was in his stock holdings.
Managers of the trusts that Frist once described as “totally blind,” regularly informed him when they added new shares of HCA Inc. or other assets to his holdings, according to the documents.
Since 2001, the trustees have written to Frist and the Senate 15 times detailing the sale of assets from or the contribution of assets to trusts of Frist and his family. The letters included notice of the addition of HCA shares worth $500,000 to $1 million in 2001 and HCA stock worth $750,000 to $1.5 million in 2002. The trust agreements require the trustees to inform Frist and the Senate whenever assets are added or sold.
The letters seem to undermine one of the major arguments the senator has used throughout his political career to rebut criticism of his ownership in HCA: that the stock was held in blind trusts beyond his control and that he had little idea of the extent of those holdings.
This story does not simply raise legal or ethical questions for Frist. Additionally, voters must ask whether or not they can trust the Tennessee lawmaker.
In January 2003, after winning election as majority leader, Frist was asked on CNBC whether his HCA holdings made it difficult for him to push for changes in Medicare, a federal health program for seniors that added to the hospital company’s revenue.
“I think really for our viewers it should be understood that I put this into a blind trust,” Frist replied. “So as far as I know, I own no HCA stock.” He added that the trust was “totally blind. I have no control.”
Two weeks before that interview, M. Kirk Scobey Jr., a Frist trustee, informed the senator in writing that one of his trusts had received HCA stock valued at between $15,000 and $50,000.
The frequent stories and ongoing investigation appear to be taking their toll on Frist, as James Beltran reports for the AP.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says a federal investigation into his sale of stock in a family-owned hospital chain will affect his decision on whether he will seek the presidency in 2008.
Frist, R-Tenn., said Saturday during a visit to Iowa — site of the nation’s first presidential caucuses — that he has not lost the public’s trust and wants people to “wait for the facts before passing judgment.”
Frist would have had trouble garnering the 2008 GOP nomination even before this story broke; many Republicans simply believe that he has been ineffective as Majority Leader. But it’s tough to envision a scenario in which Frist is able to have a strong showing without being completely and entirely exonerated on all allegations of impropriety.
cross-posted to my blog at Basie.org
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