Conventional political wisdom would typically advise candidates to steer clear of mentioning their past controversies.
But U.S. Sen. Rick Scott went out of his way, quite literally, on Thursday to attend former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial in Manhattan and remind Americans that he once ran a healthcare company that was slapped with the largest Medicare fraud fine in U.S. history.
In a press conference outside the courthouse in Manhattan where Trump is on trial, Scott compared the criminal charges against Trump to the federal Medicare and Medicaid fraud investigation that resulted in $1.7 billion in fines against Columbia/HCA, the healthcare company that helped make Scott the United States’ wealthiest U.S. senator.
Earlier, in an interview on “Fox & Friends,” Scott claimed that the charges against Trump — who’s accused of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to a porn star — amount to “political persecution.” He said that he too had been a victim of a politically influenced justice system more than two decades ago.
“By the way, I saw this. It happened to me,” Scott said. “I fought Hillarycare, and guess what happened when I fought Hillarycare? Justice came after me and attacked me and my company.”
Source: Rick Scott tries to rewrite history on $1.7 billion Medicare fraud controversy / Miami Herald