In 53-Year First, Senate Holds Person in Criminal Contempt

Democratic and Republican senators were united Wednesday in voting to hold Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre in criminal contempt of Congress. After the unanimous vote, lawmakers said it was the first time since 1971 that the chamber had held a person in criminal contempt and asked the Justice Department to pursue charges, the Washington Post reports. De la Torre ignored a subpoena to appear before a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing earlier this month on alleged financial abuses at Steward, which owned more than 30 hospitals before it declared bankruptcy earlier this year. What lawmakers said Wednesday:

• "The passage of this resolution by the full Senate will make clear that even though Dr. de la Torre may be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, even though he may be able to buy fancy yachts and private jets and luxurious accommodations throughout the world, even though he may be able to afford some of the most expensive lawyers in America, no, Dr. de la Torre is not above the law," said independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, chair of the health panel, per the Guardian.

• "Steward, led by its founder and CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre and his corporate enablers, looted hospitals across the country for their own profit," said Democratic Sen. Edward J. Markey. "While they got rich, workers, patients, and communities suffered. Nurses paid out of pocket for cardboard bereavement boxes for the babies to help grieving parents who had just lost a newborn."
• "Steward's mismanagement has nationwide implications affecting patient care in more than 30 hospitals across eight states," said Sen. Bill Cassidy, the ranking Republican on the health panel. "Through the committee's investigation, it became evident that a thorough review of chief executive officer Dr. Ralph de la Torre's management decisions was essential to understand Steward's financial problems and its failure to serve its patients."

De la Torre and private equity investors extracted hundreds of millions of dollars from the company as it failed to pay for life-saving supplies at its hospitals, CBS News reports. The chief executive, formerly a renowned heart surgeon, and the companies he owned were paid more than $250 million over four years as the chain lost hundreds of millions of dollars and hospital administrators struggled to keep facilities running, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year.

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The AP reports federal regulators have found at least 15 patients at hospitals owned by Steward died due to a lack of medical equipment or staffing shortages and another 2,000 other patients were put in "immediate peril." A letter sent by de la Torre's lawyer to the committee in advance of the hearing said an appearance would violate his Fifth Amendment rights. Sources tell CBS News that a federal grand jury is examining the compensation and spending of de la Torre and other top Steward execs. (More contempt of Congress stories.)