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Republican Senate leader subpoenaed in possible insider trading probe
10/14/2005
WASHINGTON, Oct 13 (AFP) - Senate Republican majority leader Bill Frist has been subpoenaed by the Security and Exchange Commission to turn over personal records and documents in a probe over possible insider trading, The Washington Post said Thursday.
Issued within the past two weeks, the subpoena involves documents of Frist's sale in July of his shares in the Hospital Corporation of America -- a chain founded in 1968 by his father and brother, weeks before its stock plunged.
Sources familiar with the investigation told the daily that Frist is also expected to testify under oath about what he knew about HCA's financial health in the weeks before he sold stock.
The probe into possible insider trading is headed by the SEC and the Justice Department.
Frist, a medical doctor before turning to politics, last month said through a spokesman that he "had no information about the company or its performance that was not available to the public when he directed the trustees to sell the HCA stock."
The senator said he sold his stock in HEC to eliminate potential conflicts as he considered running for the 2008 presidential election.
The chairman of the Democratic party, Howard Dean, alleged that the investigation into Frist's dealings symbolized a "culture of corruption" prevailing in the Republican party, which enjoys a majority in Congress.
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