Frist accumulated stock in family company outside Senate trusts

Over a period of four years, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist accumulated stock in a family founded hospital chain that produced tens of thousands of dollars in income - all outside the blind trusts he created to avoid a conflict of interest, documents show.

The stock was held in a family partnership largely controlled by Frist's brother, Thomas, who founded HCA Inc. along with the senator's late father.

Frist, R-Tenn., has long maintained that he could vote on health care legislation and still own HCA stock because he placed his shares in Senate-approved blind trusts.

However, ethics experts say a partnership arrangement shown in documents obtained by The Associated Press raises serious doubts about whether the senator truly avoided a conflict.

Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, said she doesn't believe the Senate trusts or the Tennessee trust insulated Frist from a conflict because the senator or his brother was advised of transactions and could influence decisions.

"What I find most appalling is the Senate calls it a qualified blind trust when it's not blind," Clark said. "Since the Senate says it's OK, the Senate has made it a political question. It's up to the voter. But there's no doubt it's a conflict of interest."

•	Frist accumulated stock in family company outside Senate trusts Associated Press, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005 Byline: Larry Margasak and Jonathan M. Katz, Associated Press Writers

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