MEMO TO REPORTERS
TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Melissa Baldauff, WisDems Research Director
DATE: Monday, Oct. 29, 2012
RE: Tommy Thompson Continues To Cash In With Big Special Interests Days Before The Senate Election
Following is breaking new research showing how Tommy Thompson is still cashing in with big special interests just days before the election for U.S. Senate.
Thompson Received Over 127,000 In Stock From Company He Wants to Give Millions in Tax Cuts To:
On October 1, 2012, Tommy Thompson Was GivenShares In C.R. Bard Worth $125,976. On October 1, 2012, Tommy Thompson acquired direct ownership of 1,200 shares of common stock in C.R. Bard Inc at a price of $0.00, bringing his total holdings to 7363 shares. The closing price of C.R. Bard Inc common stock on the New York Stock Exchange that day was $104.98, making Thompson’s newly acquired shares worth $125,976. [SEC Form 4 for Tommy G Thompson, 10/3/2012; Google Finance: Closing Price For NYSE:BCR on 10/1/2012]
- Days Before The Election Thompson Will Receive A $1,472 Dividend From C.R. Bard,Inc.According to Reuters On October 10, 2012: “C R Bard Inc announced that it has declared a regular quarterly dividend of 20 cents pershare on Bard’s common stock. The current indicated annual dividend rate is 80 cents per share. The dividend is payable on November 2, 2012 to shareholders of record at the close of business on October 22, 2012.” According to SEC filings, Tommy Thompson held 7,363 shares of common stock with C.R. Bard, Inc, making his dividend worth $1,47.60. [Reuters, 10/10/2012; SEC Form 4 for Tommy G Thompson, 10/3/2012]
Thompson Called For Allowing Companies To Return Offshore Profits “Tax Free.” At a meeting with the Milwaukee Press Club in January 2012, Thompson said: “We also have about $3 trillion offshore and it doesn’t make any sense to have that much money sitting offshore. Let’s bring that money back but let’s put some conditions on it that at least 1/3rd of that money that comes back offshore tax free will have to be used for creating jobs. If it’s $3 trillion over, offshore, $1 trillion could create a tremendous amount of jobs.” [Milwaukee Press Club, 1/23/2012]
- Bard Had $805.8M In Cash And Cash Equivalents Offshore – “It Is The Company’s Intention To Permanently Reinvest The Majority Of These Funds Outside The United States.” According to Bard’s October 2012 quarterly report to the SEC, “Cash and cash equivalents held by the company’s foreign subsidiaries were $805.8 million and $586.9 million at September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively.” [CR Bard October 2012 Quarterly, accessed 9/28/12]
Bard “Agreed To Pay $184 Million To Resolve 2,600 Lawsuits Filed By Patients.” In a September 2012 Journal Sentinel article, Cary Spivak wrote, “Last year the company agreed to pay $184 million to resolve 2,600 lawsuits filed by patients who said a Bard mesh hernia patch – a device surgically implanted – caused a variety of serious problems, including bowel perforations and abdominal abscesses.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9/17/12]
Journal Sentinel: “Another Product Produced By Bard And Several Other Companies Is The Subject Of More Than 5,000 Lawsuits, Including More Than 1,000 Against Bard.” In a September2012 Journal Sentinel article, Cary Spivak wrote, “Another product produced by Bard and several other companies is the subject of more than 5,000 lawsuits, including more than 1,000 against Bard, said Henry Garrard, an Atlanta attorney involved in many of the cases.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9/17/12]
Thompson Claimed His Work For Florida PharmaceuticalManufacturer Was “Pro-Bono” But He Was Given Hundreds Of Thousands Worth Of Stock:
May 16: Thompson Came On As Chairman Of TherapeuticsMD’s Board After The CEO Relinquished The Post, Specifically Citing His Experience As HHS Secretary. In May 2012 TherapeuticsMD “announced that on May 16, 2012 the Company’s Board of Directors elected Tommy G. Thompson, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, as Chairman of its Board of Directors.” [TherapeuticsMD Press Release, 5/16/12]
Thompson Campaign Claimed Thompson Accepted Therapeutics MD Chairmanship Without Compensation Because He Believed In The Company’s Products. Reported the Huffington Post in May 2012, “Thompson spokesman Brian Nemoir said that the Senate candidate is not being paid for his role at TherapeuticsMD. ‘The governor has served as an uncompensated advisor to Therapeutics MD for the past year, and the acceptance of the board appointment reflects his belief in the women’s health products the company offers,’ Nemoir told HuffPost. ‘Obviously, he would not have accepted the uncompensated board appointment if he felt it competed with the demands of the Senate race.’” [Huffington Post, 5/24/12]
Just Over A Month After Tommy Thompson Took TherapeuticsMD Job, Thompson Received 75,000 Stock Options. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in September 2012, “But Thompson’s pro bono board work for TherapeuticsMD did not last long. According to corporate filings, Thompson has since been awarded 75,000 stock options ‘for his services as a director and as Chairman of the Board during the 2012 calendar year.’ The company granted the stock options on June 29, a little more than a month after the announcement that he had joined the board.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9/30/12]
June 2012 TherapeuticsMD SEC Filing Shows That 100,000 Shares Were Assigned To Jason Thompson By Non-Affiliated Third Party. According to TherapeuticsMD’s second quarter report to the SEC, “In June 2012, a warrant for the purchase of an aggregate of 100,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock was assigned to the son of the Company’s Chairman of the Board of Directors by a non-affiliated third party (shareholder/lender).” [TherapeuticsMD – Quarterly Report, period ending 6/30/12]
- When Asked About Son’s Compensation From TherapeuticsMD, Thompson’s Campaign Took 17 Days To Respond With No Details. “Asked about his son’s deal earlier this month, Thompson said, “Good for Jason.” Thompson later explained that his son was receiving the options ‘from a major shareholder that’s hired Jason to do some work for them.’ The former governor said he would find out the name of the shareholder ‘and get right back to you.’ His campaign then took 17 days to issue a statement that didn’t identify the shareholder, provide the strike price for his son’s options or give their vesting date.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/26/2012]
Thompson Tried to Hide His Iranian Stock Holdings Claimed He Didn’t Know About Them:
The Afternoon of October 18: Huffington PostReported Thompson Owned Up To $50,000 In Iran-Linked Stock. The Huffington Post reported: “The Huffington Post’s Mike McAuliff reported Thompson’s investments just hours before the debate, noting that he owned up to $50,000 worth of stock in firms that do business with Iran. As of Thursday afternoon, Thompson owned $1,000 to $15,000 worth of stock in the mining operator Rio Tinto, which partners with Iran in mining uranium. Iran owns 15 percent of a uranium mining operation in Namibia with Rio Tinto. Thompson also owned up to $17,000 worth of stock in Royal Dutch Shell — which the Government Accountability Office has identified as doing business with Iran — and from $1,000 to $15,000 worth of stock in oil services firm Schlumberger, which has been probed by the Justice Department over its Iran work.” [Huffington Post, 10/18/2012]
The Evening of October 18: Thompson Claimed He Had Only Invested In Two Stocks That Did Business With Iran – “I Didn’t Know.” During the October 18, 2012 Wausau Senate debate, Thompson said, “The other thing is, ladies and gentlemen, is that she’s talking about stock. I didn’t know about the fact that my stockbroker had purchased two shares—two company stocks. I sold it. I sold it today. I do not—I do not – I found out today, and I sold it today. I do not tolerate. I do not agree with anybody doing business with Iran. None whatsoever.” [Wausau Senate debate, 10/18/12]
October 20: Thompson Admitted To Owning A Total of Six Iran Linked Stocks . The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported: “Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tommy Thompson sold stock in four companies for about $38,000 after learning they have ties to Iran, campaign spokesman Lisa Boothe said…. On Friday, Boothe said that Thompson sold all of his shares in Royal Dutch Shell; Rio Tinto, a London-based mining company; Schlumberger, a Houston-based oil field services provider; and Total Petroleum, a petroleum marketing company based in Ghana that was formerly Mobile Oil Ghana.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/20/12]
October 25: Journal Sentinel Reported Thompson Owned Stock In Seventh Iran-Linked Company. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported: “Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tommy Thompson sold his stake earlier this year in yet another company that had done business in Iran, his campaign said this week. Lisa Boothe, spokeswoman for Thompson, said the former four-term governor dumped his ownership interest in the state-controlled China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, in January…. A 2010 U.S. Government Accountability Office report listed Sinopec as one of 41 foreign firms engaged in commercial activity in Iran’s oil, gas or petrochemical sectors. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2006 that Sinopec had an agreement with Iran to develop an oil field in the country’ssouthwestern region.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/25/2012]
