http://www.geocities.com/jurisnot How the Trillions Got STOLEN - JW
http://www.geocities.com/jurisnot/index2.htm
The Great Texas Bank Job
Money Laundering N Looting
Paying Those Political Campaign Expenses "Slick Willy's Way"
This again shows how far special interests, favors and corruption have gone in this administration by putting completely unqualified people in high level posts.
Tom DeLay's funny-money trail
WD 41 and WD 43 N Company "Slicker Than Willy"
The RNC Bag Men Go To DC, LA, Florida, Iraq........
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$$$ |
Ohhhhh Shit "They Figured Out The Money Machine" $$$ |
What Ever You Do Do Not Mention The Missing Billions in IRAQ
Repeat After Me "I SWEAR - we did not have Sexual Relations with Fannie Mae Freddie Mac or those S&Ls and BANKS"
WASHINGTON, September 23, 2005
In a statement released Friday, the Nashville-based company said federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York issued a subpoena for documents HCA believes are related to the sale of its stock by the senator.
Frist's office confirmed the SEC is looking into the sale.
The SEC also contacted HCA on Friday to informally request copies of the subpoenaed documents, HCA spokesman Jeff Prescott said. "We of course will comply with that request," he said.
Frist traded using only public information, and only to eliminate the appearance of a conflict of interest, Frist spokesman Bob Stevenson said in an e-mail Friday.
"Not surprisingly, the Securities and Exchange Commission contacted Senator Frist's office after the story appeared in the press about the sale of his Hospital Corporation of America stock," Stevenson said. "The majority leader will provide the SEC any information that it needs with respect to this matter."
Frist spokeswoman Amy Call again declined to comment on the timing of the sale, saying, "His only objective in selling the stock was to eliminate the appearance of a conflict of interest."
HCA, the nation's largest for-profit hospital company, was founded by Frist's father. His brother was formerly its CEO and chairman and remains on the board of directors.
Frist asked a trustee to sell all his HCA stock in June, near a 52-week stock price peak of $58.40 and at the same time HCA insiders were selling off shares. Reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission showed insiders sold about 2.3 million shares, worth about $112 million, from January through June, said Mark LoPresti of Thomson Financial.
The sale came about two weeks before the company issued a disappointing earnings forecast that drove its stock price down almost 16 percent by mid-July. They still have not recovered, closing Thursday at $45.90.
The value of Frist's stock at the time of the sale was not disclosed. Earlier this year, he reported holding blind trusts valued at $7 million to $35 million.
The sale of stock was first reported Monday by Congressional Quarterly. On Tuesday, The Associated Press reported that the stock was sold at or near its peak between June 13, when Frist asked the shares to be sold, and July 1, when he was told the sale was complete. On July 8 he was informed that his wife and children's shares had also been sold per his request, his spokeswoman Amy Call said.
For years, Frist was criticized for holding HCA stock while directing legislation on Medicare reform and patient issues. He and his office have consistently deflected criticism by noting that his assets were in a blind trust and not under his active control.
But Senate ethics rules allowed him more control than most observers realized. Under the guidelines, senators can directly order the sale of any asset in the trust to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. The senator also can communicate to the trustee matters of concern, including "an interest in maximizing income or long-term capital gain."
That is not how blind trusts normally work, said David Becker, who was general counsel at the SEC from 2000 to 2002.
Frist, a Tennessee Republican, is widely considered a potential presidential candidate in 2008.
HCA said the subpoena seeks the "production of documents," and said it plans to fully cooperate with the investigation.
On Thursday, SEC spokesman John Nester would neither confirm nor deny that Frist or any officer or director of HCA is the subject of an investigation, citing the agency's policy. Nester also declined comment Friday on Frist's spokesman saying the SEC had contacted the senator's office.
Shares of HCA were up 25 cents to $46.15 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
-----Original Message-----
From: Das GOAT
To: Roads End
Cc: E Mael0; JusB; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 11:00:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Subject: Leader of Republicans in Senate Investigated for Corporate
Crime
Frist's HCA Stock Sale Being Investigated By JONATHAN M. KATZ,
Associated Press Writer
Friday, September 23, 2005
(09-23) 13:48 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --
Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are
looking into Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's sale of stock in HCA
Inc. at a time when insiders at the hospital operating company were
also selling off shares.
HCA, based in Nashville and founded by the Frist family, said Friday
that it had received a subpoena from prosecutors for the Southern
District of New York, asking for documents the company believes are
related to Frist's stock sale.
Prosecutors also have contacted the senator's office, Frist spokesman
Bob Stevenson said. He said neither the senator nor his office had
received a subpoena.
Frist, a Tennessee Republican, has been considered a potential
presidential candidate in 2008. Aides say he sold his stock to avoid
any appearance of a conflict of interest.
Frist's office confirmed the SEC was looking into the sale.
"As with the SEC, the majority leader will provide the U.S. attorney's
office with any information that it needs with respect to this matter,"
Stevenson said.
The SEC also contacted HCA on Friday to informally request copies of
the subpoenaed documents, said company spokesman Jeff Prescott. "We of
course will comply with that request," he said.
Herb Haddad, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan,
said the office had no comment on the matter. SEC spokesman John Nester
declined to comment Friday on whether the agency had contacted Frist's
office.
David Becker, who was general counsel at the SEC from 2000 to 2002,
noted that both Frist and HCA were being put under scrutiny.
In insider trading cases, "you connect the dots not by simply going
from one dot to another but by starting at both dots and working toward
the middle," Becker said. "The facts that are public don't come close
to demonstrating wrongdoing. It's way too premature to have any
judgment."
Frist spokeswoman Amy Call declined on Friday to comment about the
timing of the sale, saying, "His only objective in selling the stock
was to eliminate the appearance of a conflict of interest."
HCA, the nation's largest for-profit hospital company, was founded by
Frist's father. His brother was formerly its CEO and chairman and
remains on the board of directors.
Frist asked a trustee to sell all his HCA stock in June, near a 52-week
price peak of $58.40 a share. Reports to the SEC showed HCA insiders
sold about 2.3 million shares, worth about $112 million, from January
through June, said Mark LoPresti of Thomson Financial.
Frist's sale came about two weeks before the company issued a
disappointing earnings forecast that drove its stock price down almost
16 percent by mid-July. They still have not recovered, closing Thursday
at $45.90.
Shares of HCA were up in Friday afternoon trading on the New York Stock
Exchange.
The value of Frist's stock at the time of the sale was not disclosed.
Earlier this year, he reported blind trusts with all holdings valued at
$7 million to $35 million.
The sale of stock was first reported Monday by Congressional Quarterly.
On Tuesday, The Associated Press reported that the stock was sold at or
near its peak between June 13, when Frist asked that the shares to be
sold, and July 1, when he was told the sale was complete. On July 8,
Frist was informed that his wife and children's shares had also been
sold per his request, spokeswoman Call said.
For years, Frist was criticized for holding HCA stock while directing
legislation on Medicare reform and patient issues. He and his office
have consistently deflected criticism by noting that his assets were in
a blind trust and not under his active control.
Senate ethics rules did allow Frist some control. Under the guidelines,
senators can order the sale of any asset in the trust to avoid the
appearance of a conflict of interest. The senator also can communicate
to the trustee matters of concern, including "an interest in maximizing
income or long-term capital gain."
That is not how blind trusts normally work, Becker said. "It can be
useful and it can be better for the public to make sure you empty the
blind trust of the things you do know about and have it replaced with
things you don't know about," Becker said.
Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis
who specializes in government ethics, said the Senate guidelines seemed
to allow using a trust as a way to avoid having to publicly report the
holdings.
"I think this raises the issue of, is that appropriate given that it's
not really blind," she said.
___
Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to
this story.
NanC <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Bringing integrity and dignity back to the Whitehouse and Washington, D.C. Yah, sure, as for me, a little sexual dalliance would be a welcome relief from what has transpired in our government since 2001. At least no one died because of a blow job..........NancyFrist, DeLay Fend Off Probes Into EthicsBy DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press WriterFri Sep 23, 4:23 PM ET
Heading into a midterm election year, Republicans find themselves with not one, but two congressional leaders Bill Frist in the Senate and Tom DeLay in the House fending off questions of ethical improprieties.
The news that federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into Frist's sale of stock in HCA Inc., the hospital operating company founded by his family, comes as a criminal investigation continues of Jack Abramoff, a high-powered Republican lobbyist, and his ties to DeLay of Texas.
Less than a week ago, a former White House official was arrested in the Abramoff investigation.
For Republicans, the timing couldn't be worse.
"The last thing you needed was a Martha Stewart problem," Marshall Wittman, a one-time conservative activist who now works for the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, said of Frist. "He doesn't even have a good clothing line or a popular television show."
Stewart, the homemaking doyenne, served five months in federal prison for lying to authorities about a stock deal and nearly six months more in home confinement.
The midterm elections occur in just over 13 months and Republicans face the historic reality that the party controlling the White House typically loses seats in non-presidential years.
Shadowing the GOP outlook is President Bush's diminishing approval ratings as the war in Iraq, rising oil prices and the need for billions in federal spending after devastating hurricanes threaten to overwhelm a second-term agenda.
"It may not cost the Republicans any seats directly, but it's something they don't need right now," said John J. Pitney, a professor at Claremont McKenna College in California who once worked as a research analyst for House Republicans. "They've got plenty of problems as it is."
Still, in the Republican-controlled Congress, Democrats have more Senate seats to defend 17 to the GOP's 15 and redistricting has made fewer House seats competitive.
Charlie Black, a Republican consultant with close ties to the White House, expects Frist to be cleared by next year and any whiff of scandal to be gone.
"I suspect the DeLay matter and this matter will be resolved long before November '06," Black said.
Frist cultivated a political outsider image when he ran for the Senate in 1994. "I don't want a career in Washington. I want change," said the Tennessee heart surgeon, who didn't register to vote until 1988 and didn't vote until he was 36.
The year 1994 marked the Republican revolution, when the GOP seized control of Congress after decades of Democratic rule in the House and years in the Senate. The GOP portrayed their rivals as beholden to special interests and corrupt after years of entrenchment.
More than a decade later, Republicans are trying to avoid the perception that they resemble the Democrats they replaced.
"The overall problem the Republican Party has is it is increasingly looking like Tammany Hall," Wittman said. "An odor of sleaziness is enveloping the Republicans and seeping into the administration."
Democrats seized on the latest development, with party chairman Howard Dean criticizing Frist and arguing that Republicans "have made their culture of corruption the norm."
The challenge for Frist is to clear his name in a federal investigation while trying to maintain his hold on the post of Senate majority leader.
Frist came to power in 2002 when Republicans forced out Sen. Trent Lott (news, bio, voting record), R-Miss., after he made racially tinged remarks in support of former Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., a one-time segregationist.
If Republicans see Frist and the probes as a drag, he could suffer the same fate as Lott. Frist also is a lame-duck leader who has indicated he won't seek another term.
Chris Lehane, a Democratic consultant who has managed scandals, said Frist's political strategy would be to get information out, but that approach is hardly what a lawyer would advise his client.
An insider trading investigation also raises the possibility of civil action by shareholders and a discovery process that "disgorges all kinds of documents," Lehane said.
"Even information benign in another type of environment what about this phone message from your brother" has added significance, Lehane said.
Frist has been mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2008 a prospect that looks less likely with the federal probe and his break with conservatives on embryonic stem-cell research.
"That romance was over before it started," Wittman said.
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