Bill Frist Denies Insider Trading Allegations
Senate leader defends stock sales
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Senate...tock_0926.html
9/26/2005
Embattled Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) delivered a terse statement before television cameras at 5pm ET Monday about sales of stock in his family's company that have come under scrutiny.
Documents obtained by the Associated Press showed that Frist had received nearly two dozen updates on his stock, stock which was supposed to be part of a "blind" trust.
Frist told cameras that all of his stock was in the trust. He said that in April, he asked if the rules would allow him to sell any remaining stock in his family's hospital company, HCA.
He stated that he obtained written approval by the Senate Ethics Committee before he sold and that he didn't have any knowledge that wasn't publicly available when he decided to sell the stock.
The Tennessee senator then departed without taking questions. His statement follows:
FRIST: Good afternoon. When I ran for the Senate over 10 years ago, I made a commitment to the people of Tennessee that if elected I would serve them to the best of my ability and uphold the highest of ethical standards. I've tried to go above and beyond anything required by Senate rules or the law. Now some questions have arisen, so let me tell you what I know and what I did. When deciding how to handle my family's personal investments, I always sought expert advice and Senate Ethics Committee review and approval. Despite not being required to do so, I sought and obtained two Ethics Committee opinions acknowledging that my ownership of HCA stock complied with the Senate rules and did not represent a conflict of interest with my Senate duties.
FRIST: Despite not being required to do so, I later chose to place many of my investments in blind trusts, including my HCA stock. With these efforts, I have sought to guarantee that no conflict of interest existed. Review after review has found nothing wrong. Nevertheless, the complaints and questions have persisted. Because of these continuing questions, and looking ahead at my final years in the Senate and what might come next, I have for some time wanted to eliminate even the possibility of an appearance of a conflict by totally divesting of any HCA stock in my family's trust. In April, I asked my staff to determine if Senate rules and relevant laws would allow me to direct the trustees to sell any remaining HCA stock. After my staff reviewed the relevant statutes and Senate rules and consulted with outside counsel and Senate Ethics Committee staff, I learned that the rules allowed me to direct the trustees to sell any remaining HCA stock in my blind trust. In May, my staff worked with outside counsel and with the Senate Ethics Committee staff to draft a written communication to the trustees. After obtaining pre-approval by mid-June from the Senate Ethics Committee, I issued a letter directing my trustees to sell any remaining HCA stock in my family's trust. Now I'm being asked to explain this decision. I understand that, and I welcome it. An examination of the facts will demonstrate that I acted properly. I will cooperate with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York to provide the information they need as quickly as possible.
FRIST: My only objective in selling the stock was to eliminate the appearance of a conflict of interest. I had no information about HCA or its performance that was not publicly available when I directed the trustees to sell the stock. And now I'm going back to work. While I know all of you will have many questions, we will answer as much as we can and as fast as we can, consistent with the inquiries under way. Thank you. END
