Steward CEO fights contempt charges

Departing Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre is fighting a criminal contempt of Congress charge against him for refusing to testify about the failure of his company.

In a complaint filed in a Washington D.C. federal court on Monday, de la Torre's attorneys asked for an injunction against the Senate committee that subpoenaed de la Torre to testify. The complaint said the members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee ignored de la Torre's invocation of his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and sought to publicly humiliate him for Steward's bankruptcy.

"The Committee hoped to lead the public to infer criminal misconduct — an inference from which Dr. de la Torre should be constitutionally protected — by coercing him to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights in a televised shaming spectacle and remain silent in the face of vitriolic abuse from Senators and witnesses lobbing spiteful and venomous ad hominem attacks against him, none of which Dr. de la Torre could refute without abandoning his constitutional rights," the complaint read.

The complaint also said the committee members sought the charges even after they recognized de la Torre's claims that his testimony would violate his constitutional rights and that he was prohibited from discussing Steward's finances amid the company's ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. It further argued that a congressional subpoena legally must serve a valid legislative purpose.

The Senate voted last week to hold de la Torre in contempt for his refusal to testify before the committee about Steward's bankruptcy. That sent the complaint to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for potential criminal prosecution. The U.S. Attorney has not said if it will prosecute.

His lawyers claim that de la Torre’s refusal to honor the subpoena is different from other cases, such as those involving former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro and chief strategist Steve Bannon. Both Bannon and Navarro were convicted on contempt charges for defying congressional subpoenas in the investigation of the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“This is not Bannon or Navarro who tried to use 'executive privilege' as a shield against congressional subpoenas," said de la Torre attorney William Burck in an emailed statement. "Dr. de la Torre has invoked his inalienable rights under the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution, which no one — not the Congress, not the President, not the Judiciary — has the right to deprive him of while he faces the criminal accusations the Committee has hurled at him."

Named in the complaint are the members of the Senate committee, including Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey. Markey's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tuesday is de la Torre's last day as Steward CEO and chairman of its board. His resignation was announced Saturday.