Senate holds Steward Health CEO in contempt of Congress

The Senate unanimously adopted a resolution Wednesday to hold the CEO of Steward Health Care in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena and refusing to appear at a hearing.  

The matter will now be referred to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to criminally prosecute Ralph de la Torre for failing to comply with the subpoena. It marks the first time since 1971 that the Senate has held someone in criminal 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.) said.

Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor and could be penalized with fines or imprisonment.

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) — the chair and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee — said de la Torre is dodging accountability.

They want him to answer questions about how Steward managed its hospitals, as well as how he was able to reap millions of dollars even as 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 said on the Senate floor. 

“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 said. 

“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 passed two contempt resolutions against de la Torre last week: one for criminal contempt, and the other for civil enforcement. 

The HELP committee in July issued a subpoena to compel de la Torre to testify, the first issued by the panel in decades. 

De la Torre told the committee he wouldn’t participate in the hearing while Steward was still in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings and asked for the hearing to be postponed.  

But the committee rejected his request and told de la Torre to appear. When he did not, it initiated contempt proceedings.  

Last week, de la Torre’s attorney informed the committee he would invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, because the hearing “was seemingly designed as a vehicle to violate Dr. de la Torre’s constitutional rights.” 

The committee rejected that move, as well.