[SIZE=20pt]Warren: "Did you buy the stock and introduce a bill that would be helpful to the company you just bought stock in?,"[/SIZE] she asked.
Price stonewalled: "The stock was bought by a broker who was making those decisions. I wasn't making those decisions."
"You said you weren't making those decisions. Let me just make sure that I understand. they are listed under your name. These are your stock trades."
"They are made on my behalf.
"Was it purchased through an index fund?"
"I don't believe so."
"A mutual fund?"
"It's a broker-directed account."
"Through a blind trust? Let's just be clear. This is not just a stockbroker, someone you pay to handle the paperwork. This is someone who buys stock at your direction. This is someone who buys and sells the stock you want them to buy and sell."
"Not true."
"So when you found out --"
"That's not true, Senator."
"You decide not to tell, wink, nod, nod, and we're supposed to believe that."
After some more back and forth, Warren continued her march.
"Then I want to understand when you found out your broker had made this trade without your knowledge, did you reprimand her?"
"What I did was comply --"
"Did you sell the stock?:
Price hemmed and hawed about how he disclosed everything while Warren and Alexander bickered over time. Finally, she resumed.
"Your periodic transaction notes you were notified of this trade on April 4th, 2016. did you take an additional actions after that date to advance your plan to help the company that you now own stock in?," Warren asked.
Here she was getting to the fact that after purchasing the stock, he introduced legislation to help the company.
Price snapped back, "I'm offended by the insinuation, Senator." (*had to get personal, couldnt stick to the facts)
Warren was ready. "You may be offended, but here's what you did. After you were personally notified of this trade, which you said you didn't know about in advance..you sent a letter to CMS calling to cease all future and planned mandatory initiatives under the Center for Medicare and Medicaid innovation and so there was no misunderstanding about who you were trying to help, you specifically mentioned hip and knee replacement."
Earlier in the day, Senator Patty Murray elicited answers from Price which clearly point toward some major insider trading on his part. Even though the media is downplaying it, it's a huge problem for Price. This particular exchange concerned a private placement purchase of a company by the name of Innate Immunotherapeutics. Private placements are investment offerings to private investors and usually require a minimum investment. Think of them as venture capital pooling where companies raise funds before going public.