Dean Sold Bank Stock After Becoming Gov.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

By PETE YOST
Associated Press Writer

January 4, 2004, 5:16 PM EST


WASHINGTON -- Howard Dean sold $15,000 in stock in five Vermont banks in 1991 after becoming governor and getting what he says was an "inside report" from the state banking regulator.

"It became clear to me that information I might receive in the future as governor could present a possible conflict of interest," Dean said in a statement Sunday in response to questions about the transaction.

/snip/...

"When I was working as a doctor and serving part time as lieutenant governor, I purchased approximately $15,000 of Vermont bank stocks," Dean's statement said. "As I volunteered to a Vermont Business Magazine reporter, I sold these stocks shortly after Gov. Snelling died and I unexpectedly became governor when it became clear to me that information I might receive in the future as governor could present a possible conflict of interest."

Within a few weeks of his elevation from lieutenant governor to governor, Dean legal aide Josh Fitzhugh wrote in a Sept. 4, 1991 memo that "Some bank CEOs would like to meet with the governor to increase their `comfort' level."

more...

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-dean-finances,0,6412599.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. He is leading

And now we have this dirt


Boy why am I suspciciuos that Rove is behind this?

[Just Me]

2. Who is the messenger?

I wonder?

[fjc]

3. Dirt?

Who's gonna give a rats ass about $15 grand worth of bank stock? Let's talk about Neil Bush's recent killing in the market. Geez, wouldn't it be great if this is the only kind of stuff they can dig up on him?

[OrAnarch]

4. This is dirt?

I can't possibly see how this is dirt unless the bank stock collapsed shortly thereafter.


Pretty honorable actually IMHO if he did sell it off cause of recognized conflicts of intrest.

[Rose Siding]

5. I don't see how this is dirt

He cashed out as soon as he knew he should. He wasn't *planning* to take the job- Snelling died.

Dean's squeaky but you're right to be suspicious- they'll sling everything they find.

[eyesroll]

6. Plus, this was all disclosed in 1994, according to that same article

so it's not like he was hiding anything. Why did this resurface now? (The Dean statement Sunday came in response to questions, but where did the questions come from?)

[ProudToBeLiberal]

7. I thought it was wise to get it out into the open

yeah I don't think its dirt

[eyesroll]

8. Hey, no problem...thanks for posting

:hi:

[Muddleoftheroad]

10. Reporters do research, it does happen

But so do the other candidates of both parties.

It doesn't matter, this is a non-issue.

[liberalnurse]

17. Excellent point.......

*bush is scared.....Dean can take it....I'm behind him.

[donco6]

23. What dirt?

He had stock; he sold it when a conflict of interest appeared.

ZZZzzzz.

[Dimsdale]

9. If Chimpy's little Harken transaction was a non-issue...

this certainly is as well. And what was it? $900K vs. $15K. Oh, and Chimpy's people "lost" the paperwork on the IRS filing so it showed up 8 months late. Nothing to see there folks. Move on.

[liberalnurse]

18. Lets not forget Cheney too.

There is a huge laundry list.....I sense it as Lieberman who thru this little dust.

[pinto]

11. fishing expedition, I don't see much, and as Yankees might say

whell, ya cahnt get theah from heah.

[KittyWampus]

12. Who Knows- Dean Sold Stocks After Regulator Gave Him Inside Report

The results were weakened capital positions, suspension of dividends and
"plunging stock prices at almost all the large- and medium-sized Vermont
banks," Vermont Business Magazine reported in December 1992.

Dean revealed his sale of the bank stocks in a 1994 interview with the same
magazine, telling an interviewer that he sold his shares because the state official
who regulates banks "came over one day and said, `Here's the inside report on all
the banks,' and I went `Yikes.'"

[demdave]

13. Sounds like he did the right thing at the right time.

[w4rma]

14. LOL! This guy is clean, this is nothing. :-) (n/t)

[Pale_Rider]

15. $15,000?

Chump change compared to Neil Bush, Kenny Boy and other corporate thugs. IMHO, no comparison, not an issue.

[cally]

16. He did the right thing

He realized he could get inside information and sold the stock. This is not dirt but a wise politician.

Let's look at the Bush family dealings. Neil Bush's stock dealings
??????????.

[Fleshdancer]

19. the good thing about this story....

is that it's a big invitation for the Democrats to bring up Bush and Cheney's shady past. This story is pretty much a non-issue, but we might as well use it to our advantage, right?

[MasonJar]

20. Why is his selling to avoid a problem not a good thing? n/t

[stickdog]

21. Meanwhile, Cheney still hold millions in Halliburton options.

What the hell is up with all these anti-Dean absolute non-stories?

[leesa]

22. I really don't think it's wise of the Criminals in the WH to take this

stance. Most of them are guilty of many major conflict of interest charges and some, most noticeably the Cheerleader in Chief, are guilty of insider trading.

[TheStateChief]

24. Am I Totally Clueless

or am I missing some "point" to all this. I keep waiting to read about something more to this story. He had bank stock, he unexpectedly becomes Governor and gets briefed on something which alerts him to the fact that there COULD be a conflict in the future and he sells the stock.

Yeah, so?

[AP]

25. Obvious question: why not sell it if you get elected Lt Gov?

What's the role of the Lt Gov? Don't you see inside info as Lt Gov? Should everything have been put in a blind trust when he entered gov? That's what Senators do, no?

[slinkerwink]

26. the role of lieutenant governor is mostly ornamental, and in vermont

the role of lieutenant governor does not extend to vermont financial matters, so that's why Dean was able to own stock in that bank, and when he unexpectedly became governor, he recognized the conflict of interest and sold that stock which was the right thing to do.

[snippy]

27. This was immoral and unethical from the republican point of view.

The republican moral and ethical thing to do would have been to leverage the inside information to turn the $15,000 into $15,000,000. Special republican Christianity bonus points if a sufficiently large number of retirees lost everything they had.

[July]

29. Love your posts, snippy!

Just had to post to say that your pithy and witty way of expressing yourself cheers me. Your "bonus points" observation slayed me. Thanks!

[cthrumatrix]

28. now...can the media focus "just one" of shrubs LIES?