Washington, D.C.
Private letters indicate that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist had extensive knowledge of investments held in what he once described as “totally blind” trusts, The Washington Post reported this week. Trustees wrote Frist at least 15 times since 2001 about his shares in his family’s hospital company, HCA Inc. For years, critics said the holdings constituted a conflict of interest because Congress passes laws affecting the health-care industry; Frist insisted he had no direct involvement in the investments. Frist sold the holdings in June, shortly before HCA shares dipped sharply in value. Frist said he had no insider information. The Justice Department is investigating.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Political cartoons for December 12Cartoons Friday's political cartoons include presidential piracy, emissions capping, and the Argentina bailout
-
The Week Unwrapped: what’s scuppering Bulgaria’s Euro dream?Podcast Plus has Syria changed, a year on from its revolution? And why are humans (mostly) monogamous?
-
Will there be peace before Christmas in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Discussions over the weekend could see a unified set of proposals from EU, UK and US to present to Moscow
