Drain That D*mn Swamp: Dems Demand Ethics Probe (VIDEO)

So much for draining the proverbial swamp.

A look at Donald Trump’s cabinet nominations reveals that the swamp just keeps getting murkier.

One of the swamp creatures is Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga) who has been tapped to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This is the department that has been tasked with overseeing the public health and managing advances in medical care.

The Hill reports that Democrats have called for an investigation into Price’s selling of medical stocks while he served in Congress.

Last month the Wall Street Journal released a story explaining that while he was serving in the House of Representatives, Price bought and sold stocks in several medical companies. Rep. Price is an orthopedic surgeon by profession, and is of course highly knowledgeable about medical advances and medical law.

Where the conflict comes into play is that while he was selling stocks and making a considerable amount of money, Rep. Price was simultaneously working on healthcare legislation.

Legislation like the 21st Century Cures Act, which appropriated funds for cutting edge medical research. Michelle Hackman of the Wall Street Journal said this about the bill:

“Mr. Price was on the committee that wrote this law that among other things speeds up the process by which drugs and other medical devices can be approved. That really impacts companies that Mr. Price was also buying stock in at the same time that he was writing and passing this legislation, like Innate Immunotherapeutics, which has a drug. It’s a multiple sclerosis drug that stands to benefit from accelerated passage through the FDA.”

In fact, she went on to say, the price of Innate Immunotherapeutics stock doubled after Rep. Price invested it.

Not only did Rep. Price make an estimated $300,000 off of the stocks that he sold while shaping the laws that impacted their prices, but he has also received significant campaign donations from the Pfizer company, in which he also owns stock.

Democrats are determined to bring all of this out to the public through an ethics investigation. They are not going to just sit by while the swamp is taken over by the worst of the country’s swamp creatures.

Featured image via YouTube Screenshot.

Karen is a retired elementary school teacher with many years of progressive activism behind her. She is the proud mother of three young adults who were all arrested with Occupy Wall Street. To see what she writes about in her spare time, check out her blog at "Empty Nest, Full Life"