Frist Faces Heat as SEC Orders Formal Investigation

[Dickie Flatt]

First DeLay and now this -- and over at TPM, Josh says there are rumors of a Rove indictment in October.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=anM.DHkPQl.M&refer=us

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist faces a near-term ordeal unwelcome to anyone, particularly an ambitious politician: an official probe into his personal financial dealings by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC authorized a formal order of investigation of Frist's sale in June of HCA Inc. shares, people with direct knowledge of the inquiry said yesterday. The order allows the agency's enforcement unit to subpoena documents and compel witnesses to testify, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the order hasn't been made public.

``This turns the flame up under the kettle and keeps the water boiling,'' said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the independent Rothenberg Political Report in Washington. ``It means he's going to continue to be peppered with questions about this stock sale, and no politician wants to be questioned about things like that.''

A formal order requires the approval of at least one of the SEC's five commissioners. While it raises the legal stakes for Frist, a Tennessee Republican, it doesn't indicate that the SEC's investigators have uncovered evidence of illegal insider trading, said Michael Missal, a former enforcement lawyer at the agency.

[rodeodance]

1. whow--a formal order. progess is being made

[rodeodance]

3. almost too close to the heels of Delay indictment. need a day at least.

[CottonBear]

2. I can't wait to see Frist in prison garb.

;) I'm just saying...

[rodeodance]

4. msnbc just said the 'whole family dumped the stock"

[CottonBear]

10. Lester Crawford, the former FDA head apparently dumped stock

in some as yet un-named company as well. I think it must have been a pharmaceutical stock. He only lasted 2 months as the FDA head before resigning. Too bad Frist won't resign. What a bunch of corrupt bastards.

[catmandu57]

17. Put them all in jail

This is turning into a very good week.

[shanti]

34. TWO DOWN!

n/t

[Norquist Nemesis]

5. He sure knew a lot about his trust!

He tried to get the first crack by doing his press announcement yesterday, but it's not working too well for him. DeLay's indictment isn't going to help him either.

Can't wait till Fitzgerald announces!!!

[longship]

6. My Gawd! The hits just keep on a-comin'.

More indictments in the mill.

Plus, we've still got the DC grand jury and the Rove/Plame affair. They should be handing down their findings soon.

:woohoo: :bounce: :applause:

[gratuitous]

7. Hmmm, will any of the librul media types notice?

The Republican Majority Leaders of both the House and the Senate seem to be in hot water, legally speaking? Think they'll be able to connect two great big corrupt fucking dots that close together? Or will these be treated as totally separate occurrences, neither having anything to do with the other, and certainly not indicative of any pattern of corruption or abuse of power in the Republican leadership of Congress?

[mikeytherat]

21. And the Republican Head of the White House -- Karl Rove

All three "heads" of these Gub'mint branches under investigation or indicated.

What was that crap? Oh, yeah, "Restoring honor, integrity and ACCOUNTABILITY to government." Oh, well, none outta three ain't bad!

mikey_the_rat

[grytpype]

8. What is it about those greedy bastards...

... that make them screw up like this? All Frist had to do was hold on to the stock, there would have been no problems.

[mikeytherat]

22. ...no problems, except for the losses when the stock skids...

Gotta have it all! The Big Prize! Maybe modest gains and prudent investments are for you, lowly peon, but I am The Mighty Frist!

mikey_the_rat

[Journeyman]

27. It's what I don't understand at all . . .

If he'd held on to his stock what would he have lost, about 15% of its paper value? Hey, it's a considerable chunk of change, especially to the average citizen, but it wouldn't have broken Frist and the value may have risen again, quite soon. So what did he gain? What's a couple of dollars weighed against the possibility of an SEC investigation and the destruction of his political career? I guess there's a reason that side of the aisle is known for being "morans."

[rkc3]

31. Same with Martha Stewart - hopefully they'll pursue Frist with the

same fervor as that evil woman.

If they don't, we'll know the fix is in - Martha got screwed to set an example for this type of behavior and Frist may set the example that this practice is OK.

[DURHAM D]

37. Her stock trades were not the same as Frist's. Martha

did not start/own Imclone. She was not on the Board. She got a stock tip and acted on it - that was not illegal. Telling the feds a lie about where she got the tip was her only crime.

[connecticut yankee]

50. Martha is a Democrat

Frist is a Republican.

That makes all the difference.

He'll walk.

[amandabeech]

9. I hope that Frist is peeing in his pants,

which has been the usual response, at least when the SEC had plenty of resources and real leadership.

[YDogg]

16. Yeah, but is he in a vegetative state yet?

I mean, he can still follow a balloon, right?

[PinkyisBlue]

52. I'm glad he's not my doctor.

His medical skills should be investigated as well, while they're at it. He doesn't understand how the AIDS virus is transmitted, and he wrongly diagnosed a brain-dead, blind woman as interactive and able to visually follow objects with her eyes. We can't even tell him he should quit politics and go back to his day job.

He should become the official MD of the neocons in Washington. They will get the good medical care they all deserve.

Never let medical accuracy get in the way of your politics.

[central scrutinizer]

11. Operation Clear the Decks for Jebbie 2008

You better not cross the Bush Crime Family, no matter what your party affiliation. They will use the federal government as a weapon to crush any opposition.

[katty]

28. without full Saudi politics/$, the bush family mafia will diminish

on the world stage--MANY powerful forces have waited for the best opportunity to ruin the bush family's influence FOREVER-FOR DECADES.
Those powers that have always opposed this family (Rockefeller crowd has had a falling out with them) are stripping the family's power as a cohesive bullying force in government. No son-of-a-bush will ever run for the highest office in the U.S. again.

-the House of Saud can't save them again

[barb162]

12. don't get your hopes up; I think this is just a "make it look good"

to the public kind of thing. The SEC guy was put in by Bush, they will not really investigate deeply into this crap. This will be all show, no substance.

[sinkingfeeling]

13. Lie to them and go to jail. Just ask Martha.

[truthisfreedom]

14. hmm. my corruption radar is on high alert over all of these news stories

appearing in such short order... makes me think it's all about taking the heat off bush.

[indepat]

15. Frist and HCA insiders might want to be careful since Martha was jailed

for being convicted of lying to the investigators, at least as I seem to recall. Doubt, however, if the same standard will apply here, especially since HCA has already been slapped on the wrist and all their politics are probably right.

[rainbow4321]

62. List of HCA insiders who dumped their stock in recent months

Quite a few of them:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=HCA

[BiggJawn]

18. What's good for the "Domestic Diva" is good for the "Cat Killer"...

I would LIKE to think that perhaps we're seeing the end of the "It's allowed because I'm a REPUBLICAN" era...

[NashVegas]

19. I Wonder Who's Driving This?

ie, who tipped off the SEC, who's doing the leaking, etc.

As much as I'd love to get excited, I can't help but wonder if it's Frist himself - or his people - in an effort to get this out of the way and flattened, a la Harken, before he announces his run.

[No Exit]

20. I think Junior and his little gang did a sort of bloodless

assassination of Lott, faking outrage in order to remove him, so Pretty Boy Frist could take his place. Now, maybe, the same group has decided that Frist is not their man?

It's all kind of like gangland, isn't it? No coincidence that it is indeed like watching "The Godfather".

[rkc3]

32. Was thinking the same thing - indict and vindicate.

Makes him look like a victim of a liberal court (although a bush appointee is managing the investigation).

[amandabeech]

63. Frist and his family members may have made an SEC filing

reporting the sale of the stock. Matching the sale with the bad earnings news was done somewhere, but I don't necessarily think that "leaking" may be the right word. Obviously, though, someone brought this to the attention of the SEC investigators. Do we have an opposition research group dedicated to following the financial shenanigans of the repugs?

[nittacci]

23. The price of hubris

The people who have been so in love with power in our government over the last 4+ years are learning a hard lesson about arrogance. Although some people do "get away with murder", if you're going to run roughshod over people's rights, over the poor, foul our democracy, and generally let your greed run rampant, chances are you're going to be brought low, sooner or later.

It can't be a good day in the Oval Office. "Is it getting a little warm in here?"

[hwmnbn]

38. Hi nittacci.......

Welcome to DU!! :hi:

[Stockholm]

24. wow, you don´t want SEC on your back

Me thinks he is in bigger trouble than Delay!

[NewWaveChick1981]

25. Ah, how the "mighty" have fallen...

...It's the domino effect (I HOPE!!!). DeLay, Fristy...who's next??? (C'MON, GET ROVE NOW, YOU IDIOTS!!!)

[katty]

26. this is how Watergate went down: surrounding the bunker...

it is right out of the Watergate playbook

[antonialee839]

29. I tell ya it's Christmas Eve and the "big" present is coming

to us in October!!!!! Thanks Santa!

[expatriot]

30. DeLay, Frist, GOP resistance to Katrina Commission.....

2006 and here we come!!!!!

laters, DU! I am off to work with the power of the people at my side!

[txaslftist]

33. Martha Frist.

[nevergiveup]

35. Who's next?

I wonder if Speaker Hastert is resting well at night.

[ElectroPrincess]

36. I hope he doesn't have to make another on-air HISSy Fit? :P

After all the BIG bucks he made by acting on the insider information his kin gave him, Frist no longer will have to resort to adopting cats from the shelters.

Now, he can afford to buy his kitty cats directly from the pet shop. ;)

[sendero]

39. I hope Frist gets justice...

... but did anyone really ever think this guy had a shot at the presidency? He might well be the most singularly unexciting person I've ever seen in politics.

[AZBlue]

40. Rove too??! Whhheeeeeee.....

I was just about to ask who would be the third (since things happen in three's). Delay, Frist and Rove....wouldn't that be fun!?

When bad things happen to bad people...

[Vinca]

41. Wow - it could be a trifecta!This is like winning the lottery! nt

[1932]

42. Last night NewsHour pointed out that one of the things Frist hasn't denied

so far is whether he talked to his brother or anyone else inside the company.

I think it's going to turn out that he had a conversation with a family member and will try to say that the thins the family member told him were in the public domain.

I wonder if this is a situation where the brother could be convicted of insider trading but Frist won't be because he's not an insider?

NewsHour pointed out that his big risk now is lying to investigators, which is what ultimately resulted in Stewart's conviction.

[1932]

43. Last night NewsHour pointed out that one of the things Frist hasn't denied

so far is whether he talked to his brother or anyone else inside the company.

I think it's going to turn out that he had a conversation with a family member and will try to say that the thins the family member told him were in the public domain.

I wonder if this is a situation where the brother could be convicted of insider trading but Frist won't be because he's not an insider?

NewsHour pointed out that his big risk now is lying to investigators, which is what ultimately resulted in Stewart's conviction.

[damntexdem]

44. First DeLay, now don't delay on Frist.

Then it's Rove's turn.

[Moderator]

45. kick

[mcg]

46. Frist is not looking happy.

[MiniMe]

60. Did he get Botox injections in his lips?? n/t

[RSchewe]

47. SEC Upgrades Sen. Frist Stock Inquiry

Sep 29, 4:29 AM EDT

SEC Upgrades Sen. Frist Stock Inquiry

By JONATHAN M. KATZ
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- While insiders at Hospital Corp. of America Inc. were selling millions of dollars of their own stock this year, they were also painting a sunny picture of the company's outlook for investors.

Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the sale of HCA stock by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., whose family founded the company. HCA is the nation's largest for-profit health care chain.

On June 14, the day after Frist ordered his shares sold, HCA officers at a Goldman Sachs health care conference in Laguna Niguel, Calif., spoke optimistically about the company's prospects.

Victor Campbell, HCA's senior vice president of corporate communications and government relations, soothed investor concerns about unpaid patient debts and worries about patient volumes. He also advocated for a still-pending Senate bill that would limit the establishment of physician-owned specialty hospitals and called Washington "my favorite place ... where I spend at least a day or two a week."

In the month before the speech, Campbell sold about $12 million worth of stock. It was part of a massive insider sell-off at HCA that totaled some $112 million between January and June 2005.

Those sales were disclosed publicly through filings with the SEC.

HCA shares peaked about a week later, closing at $58.40 on June 22. On July 13, they tumbled 9 percent following the company's announcement that it would not meet earnings expectations.

Citigroup said the drop was "a clear disappointment versus recently heightened investor expectations."

more...


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FRIST_STOCK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-09-29-04-29-05

[ninkasi]

48. They have been so corrupt for so long

that I truly believe that Republican politicians believe they are untouchable. For the last few years, that has seemed to be the case. Maybe the mood of the country is changing, maybe we have been so clobbered with scandal after scandal, abuse after abuse, giveaways to corporations, and shrinking wages for us peons, it's catching up with them.

The mood right now, after Katrina, and Rita, and the war in Iraq, the price of gas, has soured on politicians, and the Republicans are in undisputed charge of all three branches of government. Does anybody listen to the "terra 'lerts" any more? I think that people are more concerned with whether they will have enough money to buy gas until payday.

They are worried that their job will be sent overseas, or that they will be hit with unexpected medical expenses, which are rising, while their paychecks are not. They see the amount of money men like Frist have, they sense that he is doing something illegal, and are...I hope...getting tired of it all. Tom DeLay is so obviously corrupt, I don't think even the neocons believe he's clean; they only care about whether he can escape unscathed.

Some members of Congress will be facing reelection in 2006, and are growing increasingly skittish about having the stink of the Bush administration cause them to have the same odor of sleaze. I only hope that DeLay is convicted, and that next month, Karl Rove will be led from the White House in handcuffs. America needs a good Fall cleaning. We don't want to wait for Spring.

[TaleWgnDg]

49. "the mood of the country?" . . .

It's the news media of late that has not informed the public. This inaction by the news media has been ongoing since the Nixon era when investigative journalism in America soared to an all time high as a result of Watergate (burglary of DNC office and its insider Nixon connections) revealed by the Washington Post. However, since that time solid investigative reporting is far and few in-between.

The timeframe coincides with the coming of age of cable television 24/7s "news" channels . . . and the competition to sex it up and sensationalize it has increased over the years. Thus, good solid informative news collection and coverage has suffered.

No longer can television networks sustain negative revenue due to nightly news report broadcast as a "public service" to Americans. Instead, sharp competition caused sensationalism and the bottom line dollar revenue to prevail, not good journalism and its requisite good news gathering.

So you wonder why it's not reported? Is it sexy? Is it sensationalism? Is it the required few seconds only report? Will it hold the public for the next commercial break?

Maybe the pile of Republican dung is so damn high that the so-called "news" media will trip over it -- be forced to acknowledge it to their listeners and readers! Bush, Cheney, DeLay and others certainly deserve it. Yes, it's long overdue.
.

[PinkyisBlue]

51. Social "Security"

And Bush and the neocons want to privatize Social Security so that all of us can invest our retirement savings in companies like HCA, run by people like the Frist family.

Wake up America, you're being fleeced!!

[robertpaulsen]

53. Here's another AP link from Michael Moore:

September 29th, 2005 1:12 pm
SEC Opens Full Probe Into Frist Stock Sale


By Jonathan M. Katz / Associated Press

WASHINGTON - While insiders at HCA Inc. (HCA) were selling millions of dollars of their own stock this year, they were also painting a sunny picture of the company's outlook for investors. Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the sale of HCA stock by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., whose family founded the company that grew into the nation's largest for-profit health care chain.

The SEC turned its initial inquiry into a formal investigation of the company, HCA announced Thursday. The company said it is cooperating with investigators.

Frist's office said Wednesday that he had gotten notice of a formal investigation, which grants subpoena powers to investigators to obtain information and documents.

On June 14, the day after Frist ordered his shares sold, HCA officers at a Goldman Sachs health care conference in Laguna Niguel, Calif., spoke optimistically about the company's prospects.

more...

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4322

[rainbow4321]

54. **Long** list of Frist's HCA's business practices

http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/documents/health/access_columbia_hca.html

Columbia/HCA attempted to enter Australia in February 1997 but there were objections from citizens and doctors went to the USA to investigate. When the FBI raided its hospitals in March 1997 it abandoned the attempt.

Analysis of the press reports and statements by those involved gives an excellent insight into the operation of the health care marketplace.

-------------
http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/documents/health/columb_patients.html

Additional information of poor care and understaffing in the years suggests that the problems continued after the fraud scandal broke in 1997. Most of the reported problems in care relate to understaffing i.e. cost cutting.

But court records, internal hospital documents and interviews with a dozen nurses reveal a pattern of staff reductions targeting registered nurses after Columbia/HCA bought Wesley in 1994 and began improving the profit margin there.
------------

http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/documents/health/columb_cult.html#What%20really%20happened

The actual fraud started long before Scott arrived on the scene in HCA in the 1980's when Frist was running the company. The major whistle blower cases were lodged against HCA in 1993 well before the merger with Columbia. The federal investigations started at this time. These practices continued after Columbia and HCA merged.

The main fraud originated primarily at HCA under Frist. It continued in Quorum and Healthtrust which were spun off from HCA. Columbia later acquired Healthtrust. When the fraud scandal broke Frist shrewdly played the good guy with a kindly face who put it all right and the market welcomed him. The unpopular Scott got all the blame. Few would have read the long reports describing what actually happened. Being part of the social establishment and having friends in high places must have helped.

[PassingFair]

55. Didn't the SEC do a formal investigation on Chimpie, too?

Didn't they "decline to prosecute" or some such?

[rainbow4321]

56. HCA founder and chimp's past history: Texas Ranger$ deal

This is probably not what you are referring to but it shows how much of a connection there is between chimpass and HCA

Long history of HCA execs and chimp:


http://www.polarisinstitute.org/corp_profiles/public_service_gats/corp_profile_ps_hca.html


Richard Rainwater and George W. Bush – Rainwater, one of the founders of Columbia HCA in the 1980s, is a friend and business associate of Bush’s, who, as reported by the New York Times, is one of the main reasons Bush was able to make millions of his past business investments. Rainwater played a major role in the investment of Bush into the Texas Rangers baseball team, which netted Bush more than $10 million upon its sale.

In 1995, soon after meeting with Columbia HCA President Richard Scott, then Governor Bush vetoed a Texas patient protection bill. The bill, which Columbia HCA was very much against, would have expanded the number of children and adults covered by the state’s health insurance program for the poor.


Tennessee Senator Bill Frist and George W. Bush –Senator Frist, who has held enormous stock in HCA, disclosing that in 1994 $13 million of his personal wealth of $20 million was in HCA stock, was on the short list of potential choices by Bush to be his Vice-Presidential running mate (Dick Cheney was eventually chosen). Frist's father and brother founded Columbia HCA. He has been called the Republican point-man in the Senate on Health issues and opposes the proposed patients’ bill of rights.

[PassingFair]

57. Made of mud, these people are!

Was actually thinking of *, the SEC, and Harken Oil;
the whole disgusting tale can be found HERE:

http://baltimorechronicle.com/dubyadodge_jul02.html

[ktowntennesseedem]

58. Why do I keep hearing that "Law and Order" sound in my head?

BOHM, BOHM!

[rainbow4321]

59. Maybe someone needs to look at chimp's blind trust

see if **he** sold off any HCA stock in the last few months, given his history/connection$ to HCA execs....

[TheMadMonk]

61. Dominoes anyone?

Lined up all in a row. If either one goes he can not help but topple others as he falls, who will in turn knock down still more. And remember Rove's teetering too. Who else is there? Cheney's got to be perched somewhere at the top of a ramp, ready for a highdive. For now we shall leave your "fearless leader" tetering in splendid isolation as a quintuple track races around the Pentagon; Both houses collapse en-mass; and Roberts is caught buggering Gannon in the Lincon Suite while Condi blows Starr in the Oval Office.

A giant tsunami of coloured obelisks paints the flag across the nation as bent politians and their owners fall. Dirty Democrats too. We don't want them and we publicly rejoice at their going. Finally some long burried event bubbles up out of his past and Bush blows his brains out in his bunker at Camp David.

We can but dream.

And it's not as far fetched as one might think. Some very ugly rumours and acusations have been circulating for years, if even a small fraction have any basis in fact and evidence is uncovered it could well all come appart.

One rumour has it that numerous politians have been compromised in a particularly sordid sexual fashion. For this to be true there has to be some sort of physical evidence to leverage control. If that evidence exists it can fall into the wrong (right) hands. A handful of undoctored photos or an unedited videotape is all it would take. Abu Grahib is a start and the Admin, is running out of dodges to keep those photos hidden.

If these investigations get any momentum going at all, the dirty underwear of a lot of people is going to be examined with a fine toothed comb.

These people are too stupid, too arrogant to believe that they are answerable to anyone. Trophy's will exist: photos, videos, mementoes. Money trails will surface (and more than likely sink again without a trace). Even if the worst accusations prove groundless, enough dirt of other kinds should be diggable to slice a huge chunk out of the neocons.

One thing we have to be on the lookout for is any attempt to limit the scope of investigations, or to call the ivestigations to a premature end. EVEN if they do get their man. So long as they keep finding solid grounds for inditment, the investigations should contine.