US style guru Ms Martha Stewart has agreed to turn over phone and e-mail records by the close of business today to a US congressmen investigating whether she had inside information when she sold shares of ImClone Systems a day before the firm disclosed bad news.
The US House Energy and Commerce Committee is trying to clear up questions about what, if anything, Ms Stewart knew about trouble at ImClone when she sold almost 4,000 shares on December 27th. She has said she sold because she had a pre-existing deal with her broker to dump the stock if the price fell below $60 a share.
On December 28th, ImClone announced that the Food and Drug Administration had refused to review its application for its highly touted cancer drug, Erbitux, a shock to investors that sent the company's shares plunging.
ImClone former chief executive Mr Samuel Waksal, a friend of Ms Stewart's, has been charged with allegedly trying to sell ImClone shares before the FDA news became public and tipping two relatives to unload theirs. Mr Waksal has denied wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty to securities and bank fraud charges.
Congressional investigators want to know if Stewart knew of the upcoming FDA rejection, or if her Merrill Lynch broker, who also served as Mr Waksal's broker, told her that Mr Waksal was trying to sell his shares.
Ms Stewart repeatedly has denied wrongdoing.