Christopher Cox is sitting out a probe of a stock sale by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said on Monday he has recused himself from the probe, citing Frist as a former congressional colleague.
“Because of my service in the congressional leadership for the last 10 years, I have recused myself in this matter,” Cox said.
Before his appointment to the SEC, Cox was a congressman representing Newport Beach and other areas.
Cox’s campaign committee gave $1,000 to Frist’s 2000 re-election campaign, according to Reuters and PoliticalMoneyLine, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics.
Regulators are looking into the sale of shares of hospital company HCA Inc. by a trust held by Frist. The sale came a month before the company issued a warning that its operating profits were likely to fall short of Wall Street expectations.
