Reply #56: Cox to recuse himself in Frist probe [View All]

[UpInArms]

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7BF9205FE5%2D5FB0%2D492A%2DB99C%2DAF560A8EB959%7D&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox will recuse himself from an agency probe into stock sales by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Cox said in a statement Monday.

"Because of my service in the congressional leadership for the last 10 years," Cox said, "I have recused myself in this matter.

"The purpose of the recusal is to avoid any appearance of impropriety in the commission's consideration of this case," he said.

Cox, who took office as SEC chairman Aug. 4, is a former Republican congressman from California. He donated $1,000 to Frist, R-Tenn., in 2000, according to Federal Election Commission records.

The SEC and Justice Department are looking into Frist's sales of shares in HCA Inc. (HCA: news, chart, profile) made this past summer.

Frist announced last week that he and his immediate family sold all the shares they owned in HCA in June.

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