Top House Dem calls for SEC probe into Trump’s Health secretary pick

The top Democrat on the House Rules Committee is calling for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate healthcare stock trades by Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services secretary.

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) in a Tuesday letter called for the SEC to probe Price’s transactions involving stocks from more than 40 different healthcare companies since 2012.

“Given that the party in question is a fellow member of the House of Representatives, I do not make this request lightly nor do I presuppose that a violation has occurred,” Slaughter wrote. “Nonetheless, the facts of this situation clearly raise the appearance of a potential violation of the public trust.”

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Price, a physician, stepped aside as the House Budget Committee chairman in November when Trump selected him to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. His work on the Budget Committee, where much of the groundwork for ObamaCare repeal takes place, and his medical career bolstered his credentials to opponents of the Affordable Care Act.

But Democrats have jumped on Price’s work on healthcare policy as Budget chairman and chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health. They say Price was privy to inside information that could affect prices of the healthcare stocks he traded, revealed by a financial disclosure.

“Congressman Price was privy to information not available to the public,” wrote Slaughter. “The fact that these trades were made and in many cases timed to achieve significant earnings or avoid losses would lead a reasonable person to question whether the transactions were triggered by insider knowledge.”

Senate Democrats, who’ve also spoken out against Price’s stated desire to reduce Medicare costs, have called for a House Ethics Committee investigation of his stock trades. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) went further, asking the independent Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate Price.

Trump transition spokesman Phil Blando called the Democratic charges “laughable.”

“Congressional Democrats are playing petty politics with these delay tactics and attempting to thwart President-elect Trump’s mandate for reform,” said Blando. “It is time for both parties to come together and address our nation’s serious problems, including enacting genuine patient-centered health reforms.”