Frist Knew About Blind Trust Investments
WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., was updated several times about his investments in blind trusts during 2002, the last time two weeks before he publicly denied any knowledge of what was in the accounts, documents show.
...
Frist, asked in a television interview in January 2003 whether he should sell his HCA stock, responded: "Well, I think really for our viewers it should be understood that I put this into a blind trust. So as far as I know, I own no HCA stock"
Frist, referring to his trust and those of his family, also said in the interview, "I have no control. It is illegal right now for me to know what the composition of those trusts are. So I have no idea."
Documents filed with the Senate showed that just two weeks before those comments, the trustee of the senator's trust, M. Kirk Scobey Jr., wrote to Frist that HCA stock was contributed to the trust. It was valued at $15,000 and $50,000.
So, if Frist' knowledge of the law is better than his medical expertise then we can assume he's committed a crime. What was his office's response?
Stevenson, the Frist spokesman, said he could not comment on the updates received by the senator. He added that Frist properly notified the Senate Ethics Committee this summer that he was initiating the sale of all remaining HCA shares, a requirement under Senate rules. All the stock was sold by July 1, including shares owned by his wife and children.
Can't comment... Typical...
I say, stick a fork in him. Fristy's goose is cooked :)
Update [2005-9-24 9:58:8 by manyoso]:
Two things:
1. As Wee Mama pointed out in comments, this is a dupe of another diary. Sorry. However, I didn't bury the lede, which is the quote on illegality by one Bill Frist.
2. If we are smart we will use this to our advantage in the fight over the filibuster that is coming up. Soften old Fristy up enough before that fight and we just might prevail!