Preet: Thanks for Agreeing to
Stay On. Great. Well, I Changed My Mind
Always a Middle Man
Trump fires great investigative attorney Preet Bharara (U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York). What was he
investigating and what has been his overall track (In a single
word: Great!!!).
This story: Bharara was removed from his post by the Trump
administration last week. He had been overseeing an investigation into stock trades
made by the HHS Secretary Tom Price (former Rep. from GA) according to a person
familiar with Bharara’s office.
Price
came under scrutiny during his confirmation hearings for investments he made
while serving in Congress from Georgia. He traded shares worth hundreds of
thousands of dollars in health-related companies, even as he voted on and sponsored
legislation affecting that industry. Price testified at the time that his
trades were lawful and transparent.
Democrats accused him of potentially using
his office to enrich himself. One lawmaker called for an investigation by the
SEC, citing concerns Price could have violated the STOCK Act, a 2012 law signed
by President Obama that clarified that members of Congress cannot use nonpublic
information for profit and requires them to promptly disclose their trades.
The
investigation of Price’s trades hadn’t been previously disclosed was still
underway at the time of Bharara’s dismissal.
FYI:
Bharara is one of 46 Federal attorneys asked to resign after Trump took office
since it is a rather routine practice and standard for a new president to
replace those officials with their own appointees.
In
Bharara’s case, however, his firing came as a surprise because the president had
met with him at Trump Tower soon after the election and Bharara as he left that
meeting, told reporters Mr. Trump asked if he would be prepared to remain in
his post, and Bharara said he agreed to stay on.
Then the Trump administration (“We need a clean slate” so said Bannon and Sessions some reports
say) instead asked for Bharara’s resignation, the prosecutor refused, and then
shortly thereafter, he was fired. Trump has not explained the reversal,
but Bharara fanned suspicions that his dismissal was politically motivated via
his personal Twitter account.
Bharara
tweeted: “I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. By the way, now I know
what the Moreland Commission must have felt like.”
Bharara was referring to that commission that was launched by New
York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2013 to investigate state government corruption, only
to be disbanded by the governor the next year as its work grew close to his
office.
In that case, Bharara vowed to continue the
commission’s work, and eventually charged Cuomo associates and won convictions
of several prominent lawmakers.
Bharara's overall record on illegal stock trading
and Wall Street is impressive (He is 79-0 for convictions, with 58 sentenced, and the others waiting).
Bharara’s
office and the DOJ and HHS departments also didn’t respond to requests for
comment, plus a White House spokesperson didn’t respond to questions about
whether Trump or anyone in his cabinet was aware of the inquiry into Price’s
trades and the investigation.
Background:
Last December, the WSJ
reported that Price traded more
than $300,000 worth of shares in health companies over a recent four-year
period, while at the same time taking actions that could have affected those
companies since Price at the time, and an orthopedic surgeon, was the Chairman
of the powerful House Budget Committee and he also sat on the Ways and Means Health
Sub-Committee.
In
one case, Price was one of just a handful of American investors allowed to buy
discounted stock in Innate Immuno-Therapeutics 2013 a tiny Australian company
working on an experimental multiple sclerosis drug. The company
hoped to be granted “investigational
new drug” status from the Food and Drug Administration, a designation that
expedites the approval process. FYI: Members of congress often try to apply
pressure on the FDA for approval.
ProPublica
reported that Price’s office took up the causes of the health care
companies, and in one case urged a government agency to remove a damaging drug
study on behalf of a pharmaceutical company whose CEO had donated to Price’s election
campaign.
As
far as Innate Immuno-Therapeutics; their CEO Simon Wilkinson, told ProPublica
that he and his company have not had any contact with American law enforcement
agencies and had no knowledge of authorities looking at Price’s stock trades
with them.
Another
Price transaction that drew scrutiny was his purpose in 2016 of between $1,001
and $15,000 in shares of medical device manufacturer Zimmer Biomet. CNN
reported that
days after Price bought the stock, he introduced legislation to delay a
regulation that would have hurt Zimmer Biomet. Note: Price
stated that trade was made without his knowledge by his broker – how likely is that
one wonders?
As
reported by Time
magazine Price also invested
thousands of dollars in six pharmaceutical companies before leading an effort (a
House bill and PR campaign that killed proposed regulations that would have
harmed those six companies.
Rep. Louise
Slaughter (D-NY) who sponsored the STOCK
Act, wrote in January to the SEC asking that the agency investigate Price’s stock
trades writing: “The fact that
these trades were made and in many cases timed to achieve significant earnings
or avoid losses would lead a reasonable person to question whether the
transactions were triggered by insider knowledge.”
What
federal authorities are looking at, including whether they are examining any of
those transactions, is still not known.
Noteworthy:
In addition to the Price stock investigation, as stated above, Bharara’s office
was also investigating allegations relating to FOX News that had been urged by
watchdog groups to look into payments Trump received from foreign governments
through his Manhattan-based business.
Finally,
Bharara’s former deputy, Joon H. Kim, is in charge of the office, but … he is expected to
be replaced by Trump real soon. Oops.
My Assessment:
1. Preet Bharara was in the middle of open investigation
of HHS Secretary Tom Price. Trump fires Bharara. Trump to put in one of his
own.
2. Bharara’s #2, attorney Joon H. Kim, now in charge. Trump
ready to replace him, too, and put in one of his own.
3. Do I detect a pattern here, maybe a coincidence,
or just events that all new administrations do when they take over - fire people in the middle of a key investigation?
4. So, will new Trump appointees shut down the Price investigation?
That is the key question isn't it? Think
about that for a minute – okay, times up.
5.
Finally, memo for Price: Whew, boy. Safe for now, um?
Stay tuned - I suspect this is not over yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment