The Senate unanimously adopted a decision Wednesday to carry the CEO of Steward Well being Care in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena and refusing to seem at a listening to.
The matter will now be referred to the U.S. legal professional for the District of Columbia to criminally prosecute Ralph de la Torre for failing to adjust to the subpoena. It marks the primary time since 1971 that the Senate has held somebody in prison contempt.
“It is a rare move for the rare degree of callousness, cruelty and cowardliness that Dr. de la Torre has demonstrated,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) mentioned.
Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor and may very well be penalized with fines or imprisonment.
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Invoice Cassidy (R-La.) — the chair and rating member, respectively, of the Senate Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee — mentioned de la Torre is dodging accountability.
They need him to reply questions on how Steward managed its hospitals, in addition to how he was in a position to reap thousands and thousands of {dollars} even because the system was failing.
“I think it’s unfortunate that we are here, but if someone shows contempt for the American people by defying a subpoena and refusing to provide answers, that is a contemptible thing. Congress has responsibility to act,” Cassidy mentioned on the Senate ground.
“Dr. de la Torre is not above the law. If you defy a congressional subpoena, you will be held accountable, no matter who you are or how well-connected you may be,” Sanders mentioned.
“The goal of the HELP Committee throughout this entire process has been to make sure not only that we have a complete understanding of the financial chicanery surrounding Steward Health Care, but to do everything that we can to make sure that such a travesty never occurs again,” he added.
The HELP committee overwhelmingly handed two contempt resolutions in opposition to de la Torre final week: one for prison contempt, and the opposite for civil enforcement.
The HELP committee in July issued a subpoena to compel de la Torre to testify, the primary issued by the panel in many years.
De la Torre informed the committee he wouldn’t take part within the listening to whereas Steward was nonetheless in the midst of chapter proceedings and requested for the listening to to be postponed.
However the committee rejected his request and informed de la Torre to seem. When he didn’t, it initiated contempt proceedings.
Final week, de la Torre’s legal professional knowledgeable the committee he would invoke his Fifth Modification rights in opposition to self-incrimination, as a result of the listening to “was seemingly designed as a vehicle to violate Dr. de la Torre’s constitutional rights.”
The committee rejected that transfer, as nicely.
