Frist shows it pays to be a good ol’ boy

People who think Martha Stewart got burned because of who she was, not what she did, should watch closely what’s happening with Bill Frist.

Appropriate questions have been raised about whether the Senate majority leader improperly sold stock benefiting a medical company with family ties.

As with Stewart, these questions have to do with timing. Why did Frist sell stock when he did? The answer to a similar question posed to Stewart landed the millionaire businesswoman in prison. Will millionaire Dr. Frist be taken down the same road for his ill-timed dump of Hospital Corporation of America stock? Not likely.

In March 2004, when Stewart was found guilty of four of the five counts against her, one of the jurors celebrated the verdict as “a victory for the little guys.”

Stewart, ratted out by friends, was found guilty of lying to the government about her sale of ImClone Systems Inc. stock in December 2001 the day before the stock plummeted.

The day after she sold her stock came news that regulators had rejected an application for a cancer drug by ImClone.

It was the timing of the stock sale that signaled to authorities something might be fishy in Miss Martha’s kitchen. It’s that same pungent smell that has some people wanting regulators to look into Dr. Frist’s black bag.

The Washington Post reported last week that questions are being raised about the timing of Frist’s decision to dump all HCA stock in June. HCA, the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain, was founded by the senator’s father and owns hospitals nationwide. Frist’s brother sits on the HCA board.

A month after Frist sold, HCA’s stock took a 9 percent hit. It’s not the day before, as with Martha, but it still seems odd.

Consumer watchdog groups such as Public Citizen wonder why Frist, who put his stock into a blind trust, chose to sell when he did. They wonder if he knew something other stockholders didn’t. The same questions were asked about Martha.

The timing is also suspicious, critics say, because Frist always claimed there was no conflict of interest. Since the sale, however, he’s claimed it was done to avoid the appearance of having any conflict.

Last week federal prosecutors in New York subpoenaed HCA documents related to Frist’s sale. The SEC also is looking into the matter.

A Frist spokeswoman told reporters the senator “did not have any conversations with HCA executives about HCA stock when he was making the decision to divest.” Wordsmiths ought to study that quote. It will likely come up again. Incidentally, Stewart was never convicted of insider trading, just lying.

Actually, “She got in trouble because her reputation as a vicious, humorless ice-queen overshadowed her talents,” wrote Henry Blodget, a former securities analyst, in Slate. By contrast, Frist, charged with nothing, is seen as a squeaky-clean Marcus Welby, M.D. That may soon change.

The rules that applied to a woman named Stewart in New York don’t necessarily apply to a man named Frist from Tennessee. Reportedly, at least seven HCA executives sold 574,882 shares worth nearly $20 million between May 17 and June 10.

Don’t expect what happened to Stewart to happen to Frist. Frist is not only a mover and shaker in Washington, he’s also one of the most powerful Republican allies in Congress for the Bush administration. The Bushvolk need him as much as they need House Majority Leader Tom DeLay who, by the way, is up to his neck in naughty. Senate Ethics Committee investigations into his alleged wrongdoing have gone nowhere. Boys will be boys.

Meanwhile, Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who strutted like a peacock over his congressional connections, is now singing like a canary about his business relationships, one of which was with DeLay. Abramoff was indicted last month on wire fraud and conspiracy charges.

Another of his clients was Tyco. Now that Tyco execs are in trouble with the government, their lawyers are tattling about what Abramoff said about his links to the White House, in particular Bush’s Brain, Karl Rove. The response from Rove’s office: Jack who?

Stewart got sent up the river before those WorldCom, Tyco and Enron boys ever got out of their limos. She was wearing her crochet poncho while the boys were still in their tuxes.

Stewart had a good defense team, one of the best money could buy, but it didn’t help. She nearly lost her empire, Martha Stewart Omnimedia, and spent five months at Camp Cupcake, the West Virginia prison. She spent almost six months under house arrest. She’s done her time for her crime (lying) and is trying to make a comeback.

It still pays to be rich and powerful in white-collar criminal circles, but mostly it pays to be male.