The CEO of Steward Health Care has refused to appear before a Senate committee to explain how his hospital company went belly up while he apparently made hundreds of millions in profits, and committee members say they’ll vote to refer him for criminal prosecution.

Dr. Ralph de la Torre, through a letter sent by his attorneys to the Committee on Health Education, Labor, and Pensions’ chairman, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, told the Vermont senator that he can’t appear to answer their questions because he is barred from doing so while the company navigates its way through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

“Dr. de la Torre lacks the authority to speak on behalf of Steward with respect to the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and he is prohibited by a federal court order from doing so,” they wrote.

Besides which, they say, de la Torre won’t appear before the committee after senators refused to delay the meeting while bankruptcy proceedings continue.

This, they say, “substantiated our concern that the true purpose of the hearing was not to gather facts within the Committee’s constitutional and congressional remit, but instead a pseudo-criminal proceeding with the goal of convicting Dr. de la Torre in a court of public opinion.”

“Dr. de la Torre cannot be permitted to provide sworn testimony at this time, given that the hearing was seemingly designed as a vehicle to violate Dr. de la Torre’s constitutional rights, including his Fifth Amendment rights. The U.S. Constitution affords Dr. de la Torre inalienable rights against being compelled by the government to provide sworn testimony that is specifically (yet baselessly) sought to frame Dr. de la Torre as a criminal scapegoat for the systemic failures in Massachusetts’ health care system,” the CEO’s attorneys wrote.

Steward filed for Chapter 11 protections in May, after it became apparent the company would not be able to keep up with mounting debts and maintain its dozens-strong hospital network. The company is in the process of selling its hospitals to other operators, including half-a-dozen facilities in Massachusetts.

De la Torre was subpoenaed to address the committee last Thursday. He did not appear, and the Bay State’s junior senator, Ed Markey, says that the committee will vote on Thursday to determine whether or not to hold the doctor in contempt of congress and potentially refer him for criminal charges.

“Dr. de la Torre remains in violation of our subpoena. I look forward to holding him accountable with tomorrow’s contempt vote,” Markey said via social media.

The committee will take up two resolutions tomorrow, according to Markey’s staff.

The first resolution will seek a civil enforcement, which “instructs Senate Legal Counsel to bring a civil suit in the District Court for the District of Columbia to require Dr. de la Torre’s compliance with the subpoena and his testimony before the HELP Committee.”

The second, will ask senators to consider referring the matter “to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia to criminally prosecute Dr. de la Torre for failing to comply with the subpoena.”

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If either resolution makes it through the committee — the subpoena to compel de la Torre to appear passed 16 to 4 — it would then face a vote before the full senate.

De la Torre’s lawyers say it’s clear where the committee places its priorities.

“If the Committee had any concern for the hospitals affected by Steward’s bankruptcy proceedings it would, consistent with Dr. de la Torre’s request to postpone the hearing for a more appropriate time, permit the bankruptcy resolution to move forward and focus its actions on tackling legitimate questions in the best interests of Steward patients, hospitals, and communities,” they wrote.