Sanders' Senate committee votes to hold CEO of bankrupt Steward Health in contempt
Lawyers for CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre said the proceedings seemed likely to violate his constitutional rights.
Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 20-0 Thursday to approve civil and criminal contempt resolutions against De. Ralph de la Torre, the chief executive officer of Steward Health Care.
If approved by the full Senate, the civil contempt resolution would cause the Senate to sue de la Torre to force him to testify before the committee.
If the criminal contempt resolution is approved by the full Senate, the Senate would ask the U.S. Justice Department to bring criminal charges against de la Torre in connection with his decision not to testify.
Steward, a large hospital company, filed for bankruptcy court protection in May. Critics say de la Torre received $250 million in compensation over the past four years as the hospitals struggled to pay for basic supplies.
De la Torre’s lawyers have argued in letters to the Senate HELP Committee that de la Torre is blocked by a federal court order from speaking on behalf of Steward about the bankruptcy, that the committee appears to be running the hearing as a “pseudo-criminal proceeding,” and that the committee appears to be out to violate de la Torre’s constitutional rights.
Related: Senate committee to vote on contempt for Steward CEO, a no-show at hearing
The committee voted 20-1 in July to authorize an investigation of Steward and 16-4 to authorize a subpoena.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., abstained from the civil and criminal contempt resolutions today. He was the only committee member present who did not vote for the resolutions.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, is the committee chair. He said the committee needs to hear from de la Torre to understand what happened to Steward.
“Witnesses, members of this committee and the American people deserve to know how Dr. de la Torre became extraordinarily wealthy while the hospitals he managed went bankrupt and could not afford to pay their bills,” Sanders said.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a medical doctor, talked about a physician at a Steward-owned hospital in Louisiana who told investigators the hospital was operating at one-third of its capacity because of limited financial resources.
He also cited the account of a nurse who told lawmakers that a Steward-owned hospital in Boston was unable to pay for basic supplies, such as bereavement boxes for newborn babies who had died.
“The nurses had to put these newborns into cardboard shipping boxes,” Cassidy said.
“A witness cannot disregard and evade a duly authorized subpoena,” Cassidy said. “If someone shows contempt for the American people by defying a subpoena and refusing to provide answers, that is contemptible.”