Frist Says He 'Acted Properly' (9/26)

[merwin]

Mods: This is a just released article after his press conference, not related to the other attempts at weaseling out.

Frist Says He 'Acted Properly'

Sen. Bill Frist defended himself Monday against insider trading allegations linked to his sale of HCA (HCA:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) shares.

In his first public comments on the issue, Frist said he "acted properly" in the transaction. The Tennessee Republican made the remark late Monday in a press conference. Federal prosecutors last week said they would look into Frist's sale of HCA shares just before the hospital chain warned in July of weak second-quarter numbers, driving its stock lower.


Monday's comments came as the new chief of one of the agencies investigating the sales, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, recused himself from the probe. Cox, a former California representative and onetime contributor to a Frist election campaign, cited the need to avert what he called "any appearance of impropriety."

Frist has previously denied having an knowledge about problems at the company that prompted his sale, and has said he instructed a trustee to sell the shares to avoid a conflict of interest. A spokesman for Frist's office said last week that the Senate majority leader had "no information about the company or its performance that was not available to the public" at the time of the transaction. The spokesman stressed that Frist relies on a blind trust to manage his investments.

But he also conceded that Frist personally asked the trust in mid-June to sell off his HCA holdings and then left the trust in charge of carrying out those orders. Some observers have questioned how blind that trust really is, given that Frist himself is apparently calling some of the shots.
...

[gmoney]

1. I think he meant "acted promptly"

As soon as he got wind of the stock tanking, he acted promptly to dump his shares before the rest of the world got the news.

If John Kerry had done this, the pukes would literally crucify him in front of the stock exchange.

[brentspeak]

10. Good one!

:rofl:

[hwmnbn]

2. Tell it to the Judge!!........

I hate these weaselly bastards.

[mirandapriestly]

13. Me too!!! I'm just SICK of it!! nt

[dhinojosa]

3. Avert what he called "any appearance of impropriety." = DODGE!

Other words from the thesaurus include:

abstain, avert, bypass, circumlocute, circumvent, deflect, desist, ditch, divert, dodge, duck, elude, escape, eschew, evade, fake out, fend off, flee, hide, hold off, jump, keep clear, lay low, obviate, recoil, shake, shake off, shirk, shrink from, shuffle off, shun, shy, sidestep, skip, skip town, skirt, stay away, stay out, stutter step, turn aside, ward off, weave, withdraw

[central scrutinizer]

6. any appearance of unprofitability

is what he meant to say

[Vinnie From Indy]

4. Sure!

GW Bush at Harken, Neil Bush at Silverado and Kenny Boy at Enron all acted properly. You see it really is quite simple. These guys believe they are entitled to steal as much money as they can grab. The laws in America do not apply to them.

[Canuckistanian]

8. If it feels good, take it!

The Republican motto.

[BlueJac]

5. Reminds me of the entire Bush regime.....

we acted properly...just like KKKarl said !

[ET Awful]

7. Frist also said that Terry Schaivo could see.

That doesn't make it so.

[spanone]

9. Others will be the judge of that, Mr. Frist.

[samdogmom]

11. Okay. I guess since he says so it's true....NOT!

Please let this man find out that NO ONE is above the law. He is not too important to follow silly little conflict of interest laws and things that more thoughtful people put into place to keep the likes of him honest. He's a CROOK! Pure and simple, arrest him and throw away the key.

[TahitiNut]

12. Whew!! Boy, that sure does take a load off!

Golly! For a while I was worried that Dr. Telemedicus might judge himself too harshly!

:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[texpatriot2004]

14. A denial...how surprising. NOT! GOP Criminals. n/t

[whosinpower]

15. Tell it to Martha Stewart

And see if she feels the same way Bill..............

[merwin]

26. It'll be interesting to see if they actually punish him like they did

to Martha. I'll lay money down that he gets no jail time.

[meow2u3]

16. Insider trading is proper behavior--if you're a Repug

If you're a Democrat, then it's a crime. Just ask Martha Stewart. :eyes:

[stepnw1f]

17. F*ck You, Go to Jail You White Rightwing Fascist (nt)

[MiniMe]

18. If it was truly a blind trust, he would not have known he had the stock...

so there goes his argument right there. Or, several months ago, he said I am going to sell HCA just before it tanks, wait for the word and then sell it fast.

[Orsino]

19. ...for a corrupt corporate whore, that is. n/t

[yellowcanine]

20. If it was truly a "blind" trust how did he even know he had the shares in

the first place. He knew he had the shares. He directed when they be sold. Where is the blind part? I guess it all depends on what the meaning of blind is, eh Fristy?

[ShockediSay]

24. If his trust was blind, my a**hole can see

And I'm keeping my eye on the corruption in Congress

[yellowcanine]

28. It is comforting to know someone(thing) is, even if it is just your ahole.

[SOS]

27. Maybe the other 14 HCA executives

who dumped their stock in April for a total of $53.1 million sent Frist a message through their secret decoder rings?

[Stinky The Clown]

21. Never a cop around when ya need one

.... damn .... they coulda cuffed him when he was yakkin' about this.

[Mz Pip]

22. Of course

not to see here, move along now like the nice little loyal sheeple that you are. How can anyone think badly of someone who fought so hard to keep Terry Shiavo hooked up? What a guy. Gotta love him.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[kineneb]

23. beyond weasel, I smell skunk, and skunk looks like Frist! n/t

[wallwriter]

25. Acted indeed. He acted as if he were honest...

but he really wasn't.