Reply #4: Frist himself called it a blind trust [View All]

[gratuitous]

And it clearly didn't qualify as a blind trust. The beneficiary of a blind trust isn't supposed to know what's in the trust. In the case of an elected official, that official knows (obviously) what assets went into the trust, what stocks, bonds, certificates and other instruments he was holding at the time the trust was created.

But the management of that trust is turned over to the manager of the trust. Frist obviously knew that, even years down the line from when the trust was first created, that he still held HCA stock. That in and of itself means that the trust was not "blind." The manager of the trust could have sold off the HCA stock at any time, and Frist would have never known it.

Additionally, the management of the assets is supposed to be up to the manager in his sole discretion. The beneficiary of the trust isn't supposed to be in control of the trust assets, yet Frist ordered the sale of an asset from the trust, which he wasn't supposed to know was even there. This is not a blind trust.

Frist is now lamely asserting that he sold his HCA stock to avoid some unidentified conflict of interest. Yet prior to this, Frist has been involved in several bills that would have affected the value of HCA stock.

This is corruption, pure and simple. In a just society, Mr. Frist would be answering some hard questions in a court of law. In the corrupt America of George W. Bush, he just made a big pile of money.