[GOP Corruption]

That Other Scandal

Bill Frist, remember him? He has had, if you'll recall, a little of the old Martha trouble--stock dumping at rather fortunate moments. Even more provacative, they were stocks in the family business--healthcare, a subject on which Frist has taken a lawmaking leadership role. His stock was supposedly placed in a blind trust to eliminate a conflict of interest. Well, what with Rove and Libby about to get the perp walk (and maybe Dick, too!), with Abramoff and Norquist on the line for fleecing Indians, with DeLay getting indicted, with Georgie and Brownie, it's hard to recall this little problem. But it's starting to look like more than a little problem. From today's WaPo:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) was given considerable information about his stake in his family's hospital company, according to records that are at odds with his past statements that he did not know what was in his stock holdings....

Since 2001, the trustees have written to Frist and the Senate 15 times detailing the sale of assets from or the contribution of assets to trusts of Frist and his family.

If we rewind the tape, the evidence gets even more damning:

• In 1995, Frist first put his assets in a "blind trust" to allay worries that he had a conflict of interest while shaping federal drug law.
• Yet in 2000, he put the assets in a new "blinder" trust (and during changeover periods, trusts cease to be blind).
• Following a transfer of stock from his late parents, between 2001 and 2002 Frist's trustee, sold off millions of the stock.
• In January 2003, Frist told the Washington Post that he "no longer knows how much the (HCA) stock is worth." Today's WaPo further quotes Frist from that same month:"[I]t should be understood that I put this into a blind trust," Frist replied. "So as far as I know, I own no HCA stock." He added that the trust was "totally blind. I have no control."

The Post goes on to quote a law professor who wondered how Frist knew to sell his stocks if he didn't know he even had any. I haven't a clue whether his "misstatements" are a legal problem, but I'll tell you this: they're a devastating political problem. Frist's career is over. We can quit referring to him as "contemplating a bid for the White House." He's done.