h[h=2]This Delaware Address Is Home to 200,000 Shell Companies—Including Hillary Clinton’s[/h]In wake of ‘Panama Papers’ scandal, renewed interest in tax avoidance efforts
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BY: Alana Goodman
April 11, 2016 5:00 am
The address “1209 North Orange Street” in Wilmington, Del., has become known in recent years as the epicenter of U.S. corporate secrecy. The squat, split-level building is the official address of over 285,000 companies, many of which are looking to take advantage of Delaware’s Panama-like secrecy rules, tax incentives, and business-friendly case law.
In the wake of the recent “Panama Papers” scandal, this unassuming brick office has received renewed scrutiny from the Washington Post, theNew York Times, the Telegraph, and advocates for corporate tax reform.
But one of its tenants may come as a surprise—a company owned by Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
Hillary and Bill Clinton quietly set up two shell companies listed at “1209 North Orange Street” in 2008 and 2013, the Washington Free Beacon has found. The names of the companies, but not their location, were first made public in tax filings released by Hillary Clinton last year.
According to records, one of the Clintons’ “1209 North Orange Street” companies is WJC, LLC, which was set up by Bill Clinton in 2008 as a pass-through for his consulting fees.
Another company at the same location, ZFS Holdings, LLC, was set up in February 2013, one week after Hillary Clinton left the State Department. Hillary Clinton received $5.5 million from her book publisher, Simon & Schuster, through the company.
The “1209 North Orange Street” building is the headquarters for the Corporation Trust Company. The firm acts as a registered agent for thousands of corporations that are not actually located in Delaware, including the Clintons’ companies.
Anti-secrecy advocates say the building is prime evidence that Delaware has become a corporate haven that’s comparable to more well-known, offshore locales.
“If you imagined a building with 1,000 corporations in it, you’d imagine a building like the Empire State building,” said Richard Phillips, a senior policy analyst with Citizens for Tax Justice. “But apparently 285,000 companies claim [1209 North Orange Street] is their address.”
“What this shows is this is not really the address of companies that are doing real business. This is the address of a lot of companies that are just shell companies,” he added. “In this case, it doesn’t even look like they have mailboxes. They just claim that address as the places they’re doing business, even though they’re not doing business there.”
Similar registered agents have come under scrutiny in recent years. While campaigning in 2008, President Obama slammed the “Ugland House,” a five-story building in the Cayman Islands that is reportedly home to over 18,000 companies.
“That’s either the biggest building in the world, or the biggest tax scam on record,” said Obama.
The Clinton campaign declined to comment on why the Clintons, who live in New York and have no evident residential ties to Delaware, set up companies in the state. But the presidential candidate isn’t alone. Experts say Delaware is the most popular place to register a company in the United States, due in part to its established system of business case law and tax incentives for intellectual property and real estate holdings.
One of the biggest draws may be the state’s lack of disclosure requirements—businesses can be created completely anonymously, allowing the owners to avoid public detection and even hide income from U.S. authorities.
According to advocates for corporate tax reform, Delaware’s laws rival well-known secrecy havens like the Cayman Islands and Panama.
“General secrecy laws and the ability of these corporations to hide the identities of those who own it, that’s what makes [Delaware] an onshore tax haven, and that’s what makes it just as bad as the Cayman Islands,” said Phillips.
Hillary Clinton has promised to crack down on tax havens on the campaign trail. Referring to the Panama Papers last Wednesday, Clinton condemned “outrageous tax havens and loopholes that super-rich people across the world are exploiting in Panama and elsewhere.”
The Clinton Foundation also has three shell companies in Delaware, according to its amended financial disclosures released last year.
One is the Acceso Fund, LLC, which was registered by the Corporation Trust Company at 1209 North Orange Street in 2009. The Clinton Foundation has used the company to channel money to its Colombia-based private equity fund, Fondo Acceso.
The private equity fund, which is run out of the Clinton Foundation’s Bogota office, has invested in telecom and food processing companies in Colombia, the Free Beacon reported last November.
Another Clinton Foundation company, Acceso Worldwide Fund, Inc., was registered in 2013 by the Corporation Services Company, located in Wilmington, Delaware.
A third company, the Haiti Development Fund, LLC, was registered in 2010 by National Corporate Research, Ltd, located in Dover.
In Delaware, limited liability companies such as WJC, LLC, and ZFS, LLC, are not required to file annual statements disclosing their directors or owners. The Clintons also registered both companies in New York after they were established.
There is no evidence the Clintons are using the entities for any nefarious purposes, and it is perfectly legal for non-residents to set up corporations in Delaware. But even if corporations stay within the law, critics say Delaware shell companies can sometimes be used to legally circumvent taxes in other states.
According to a report published last December by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Delaware’s popularity as a hub for shell companies is “responsible for the loss of billions of dollars in revenue in other U.S. states.”
“It’s legal tax avoidance,” said Phillips. “We would say it’s immoral, or not the best thing for the country.”
Anti-secrecy advocates also say the laws make it easier for criminals to evade federal taxes or finance terrorism, all under the radar of the public and U.S. authorities.
“Some anonymous shell companies have financed terrorism and supported corruption and human trafficking and Delaware is a traditional hub for creating these fake companies,” said Andrew Hanauer, campaign director at the Jubilee USA Network.
Jubilee USA Network and other groups have been advocating for legislative reform. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.), Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.), and Rep. Carolyn Maloney recently put forward legislation that would force U.S. companies to disclose their actual owners.
The Clinton campaign did not comment on whether Hillary Clinton supports the legislation. The campaign also did not comment on whether she or Bill Clinton have any other companies registered in Delaware.
But the concerns over corporate secrecy and tax avoidance have trickled into the Democratic presidential race, with Sen. Bernie Sanders incorporating it into his stump speeches. Clinton has also railed against tax havens on the trail and vowed to take action.
“Some of you may have just heard about these disclosures about outrageous tax havens and loopholes that super-rich people across the world are exploiting in Panama and elsewhere,” said Clinton during a campaign event last Wednesday.
“Now some of this behavior is clearly against the law, and anyone who violates the law anywhere should be held accountable,” she added. “But it’s also scandalous how much is actually legal.”
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BY: Alana Goodman
April 11, 2016 5:00 am
The address “1209 North Orange Street” in Wilmington, Del., has become known in recent years as the epicenter of U.S. corporate secrecy. The squat, split-level building is the official address of over 285,000 companies, many of which are looking to take advantage of Delaware’s Panama-like secrecy rules, tax incentives, and business-friendly case law.
In the wake of the recent “Panama Papers” scandal, this unassuming brick office has received renewed scrutiny from the Washington Post, theNew York Times, the Telegraph, and advocates for corporate tax reform.
But one of its tenants may come as a surprise—a company owned by Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
Hillary and Bill Clinton quietly set up two shell companies listed at “1209 North Orange Street” in 2008 and 2013, the Washington Free Beacon has found. The names of the companies, but not their location, were first made public in tax filings released by Hillary Clinton last year.
According to records, one of the Clintons’ “1209 North Orange Street” companies is WJC, LLC, which was set up by Bill Clinton in 2008 as a pass-through for his consulting fees.
Another company at the same location, ZFS Holdings, LLC, was set up in February 2013, one week after Hillary Clinton left the State Department. Hillary Clinton received $5.5 million from her book publisher, Simon & Schuster, through the company.
The “1209 North Orange Street” building is the headquarters for the Corporation Trust Company. The firm acts as a registered agent for thousands of corporations that are not actually located in Delaware, including the Clintons’ companies.
Anti-secrecy advocates say the building is prime evidence that Delaware has become a corporate haven that’s comparable to more well-known, offshore locales.
“If you imagined a building with 1,000 corporations in it, you’d imagine a building like the Empire State building,” said Richard Phillips, a senior policy analyst with Citizens for Tax Justice. “But apparently 285,000 companies claim [1209 North Orange Street] is their address.”
“What this shows is this is not really the address of companies that are doing real business. This is the address of a lot of companies that are just shell companies,” he added. “In this case, it doesn’t even look like they have mailboxes. They just claim that address as the places they’re doing business, even though they’re not doing business there.”
Similar registered agents have come under scrutiny in recent years. While campaigning in 2008, President Obama slammed the “Ugland House,” a five-story building in the Cayman Islands that is reportedly home to over 18,000 companies.
“That’s either the biggest building in the world, or the biggest tax scam on record,” said Obama.
The Clinton campaign declined to comment on why the Clintons, who live in New York and have no evident residential ties to Delaware, set up companies in the state. But the presidential candidate isn’t alone. Experts say Delaware is the most popular place to register a company in the United States, due in part to its established system of business case law and tax incentives for intellectual property and real estate holdings.
One of the biggest draws may be the state’s lack of disclosure requirements—businesses can be created completely anonymously, allowing the owners to avoid public detection and even hide income from U.S. authorities.
According to advocates for corporate tax reform, Delaware’s laws rival well-known secrecy havens like the Cayman Islands and Panama.
“General secrecy laws and the ability of these corporations to hide the identities of those who own it, that’s what makes [Delaware] an onshore tax haven, and that’s what makes it just as bad as the Cayman Islands,” said Phillips.
Hillary Clinton has promised to crack down on tax havens on the campaign trail. Referring to the Panama Papers last Wednesday, Clinton condemned “outrageous tax havens and loopholes that super-rich people across the world are exploiting in Panama and elsewhere.”
The Clinton Foundation also has three shell companies in Delaware, according to its amended financial disclosures released last year.
One is the Acceso Fund, LLC, which was registered by the Corporation Trust Company at 1209 North Orange Street in 2009. The Clinton Foundation has used the company to channel money to its Colombia-based private equity fund, Fondo Acceso.
The private equity fund, which is run out of the Clinton Foundation’s Bogota office, has invested in telecom and food processing companies in Colombia, the Free Beacon reported last November.
Another Clinton Foundation company, Acceso Worldwide Fund, Inc., was registered in 2013 by the Corporation Services Company, located in Wilmington, Delaware.
A third company, the Haiti Development Fund, LLC, was registered in 2010 by National Corporate Research, Ltd, located in Dover.
In Delaware, limited liability companies such as WJC, LLC, and ZFS, LLC, are not required to file annual statements disclosing their directors or owners. The Clintons also registered both companies in New York after they were established.
There is no evidence the Clintons are using the entities for any nefarious purposes, and it is perfectly legal for non-residents to set up corporations in Delaware. But even if corporations stay within the law, critics say Delaware shell companies can sometimes be used to legally circumvent taxes in other states.
According to a report published last December by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Delaware’s popularity as a hub for shell companies is “responsible for the loss of billions of dollars in revenue in other U.S. states.”
“It’s legal tax avoidance,” said Phillips. “We would say it’s immoral, or not the best thing for the country.”
Anti-secrecy advocates also say the laws make it easier for criminals to evade federal taxes or finance terrorism, all under the radar of the public and U.S. authorities.
“Some anonymous shell companies have financed terrorism and supported corruption and human trafficking and Delaware is a traditional hub for creating these fake companies,” said Andrew Hanauer, campaign director at the Jubilee USA Network.
Jubilee USA Network and other groups have been advocating for legislative reform. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.), Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.), and Rep. Carolyn Maloney recently put forward legislation that would force U.S. companies to disclose their actual owners.
The Clinton campaign did not comment on whether Hillary Clinton supports the legislation. The campaign also did not comment on whether she or Bill Clinton have any other companies registered in Delaware.
But the concerns over corporate secrecy and tax avoidance have trickled into the Democratic presidential race, with Sen. Bernie Sanders incorporating it into his stump speeches. Clinton has also railed against tax havens on the trail and vowed to take action.
“Some of you may have just heard about these disclosures about outrageous tax havens and loopholes that super-rich people across the world are exploiting in Panama and elsewhere,” said Clinton during a campaign event last Wednesday.
“Now some of this behavior is clearly against the law, and anyone who violates the law anywhere should be held accountable,” she added. “But it’s also scandalous how much is actually legal.”
[h=1]All False statements involving Hillary Clinton[/h]
Sanders wants more ambitious plan, but supports this one
HILLARY CLINTON
"The Clean Power Plan is something that Sen. Sanders has said he would delay implementing."
A flubbed talking point
HILLARY CLINTON
"You are three times more likely to be able to get a mortgage if you're a white applicant than if you're black or Hispanic, even if you have the same credentials."
Maybe someday, but not now
HILLARY CLINTON
"We now have more jobs in solar than we do in oil."
— PolitiFact New Hampshire
Longest and most detailed, but hardly the only
HILLARY CLINTON
"I am the only candidate on either side who has laid out a specific plan about what I would do to defeat ISIS."
Campaign says she phrased it wrong
HILLARY CLINTON
"Every piece of legislation, just about, that I ever introduced (in the U.S. Senate) had a Republican co-sponsor."
She chose the wrong metric
HILLARY CLINTON
"We now have driven (health care) costs down to the lowest they've been in 50 years."
No evidence has emerged
HILLARY CLINTON
ISIS is "going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists."
The protection isn't bulletproof
HILLARY CLINTON
The gun industry is "the only business in America that is wholly protected from any kind of liability."
Not by a long shot
HILLARY CLINTON
The Benghazi probe is "the longest-running congressional investigation ever."
Bill never made it to governor's desk
HILLARY CLINTON
Says Scott Walker rejected legislation to make college loan payments tax deductible and the result was "to raise taxes on students."
— PolitiFact Wisconsin
Some Republicans have, especially Rubio
HILLARY CLINTON
"Not one of the 17 GOP candidates has discussed how they'd address the rising cost of college."
— PolitiFact Florida
Even interpreted charitably, her claim is greatly misleading
HILLARY CLINTON
Hedge fund managers "pay less in taxes than nurses and truck drivers."
One, certainly not all
HILLARY CLINTON
Says "all my grandparents" immigrated to America.
The stats were better under Clinton, but not 100 times better
HILLARY CLINTON
The number of jobs created and people lifted out of poverty during Bill Clinton’s presidency was "a hundred times" what it was under President Ronald Reagan.
No, he's just not okay with one bill
HILLARY CLINTON
McCain "still thinks it's okay when women don't earn equal pay for equal work."
Only if "you" are a family of four
HILLARY CLINTON
"If you are driving on average in America this summer, you'll save — according to Department of Energy figures — about $70."
Nope, Obama was first in the Senate, too
HILLARY CLINTON
"I actually started criticizing the war in Iraq before (Obama) did."
His plan includes adults
HILLARY CLINTON
Obama "only wants your children to have health insurance."
She has experience, but maybe not at math
HILLARY CLINTON
Says the difference between her and Barack Obama is "about 35 years of experience."
No, it was a boon to renewable fuel industry
HILLARY CLINTON
"So that 2005 energy bill was a big step backwards on the path to clean, renewable energy. That's why I voted against it."
Sanders wants more ambitious plan, but supports this one
"The Clean Power Plan is something that Sen. Sanders has said he would delay implementing."
A flubbed talking point
"You are three times more likely to be able to get a mortgage if you're a white applicant than if you're black or Hispanic, even if you have the same credentials."
Maybe someday, but not now
"We now have more jobs in solar than we do in oil."
— PolitiFact New Hampshire
Longest and most detailed, but hardly the only
"I am the only candidate on either side who has laid out a specific plan about what I would do to defeat ISIS."
Campaign says she phrased it wrong
"Every piece of legislation, just about, that I ever introduced (in the U.S. Senate) had a Republican co-sponsor."
She chose the wrong metric
"We now have driven (health care) costs down to the lowest they've been in 50 years."
No evidence has emerged
ISIS is "going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists."
The protection isn't bulletproof
The gun industry is "the only business in America that is wholly protected from any kind of liability."
Not by a long shot
The Benghazi probe is "the longest-running congressional investigation ever."
Bill never made it to governor's desk
Says Scott Walker rejected legislation to make college loan payments tax deductible and the result was "to raise taxes on students."
— PolitiFact Wisconsin
Some Republicans have, especially Rubio
"Not one of the 17 GOP candidates has discussed how they'd address the rising cost of college."
— PolitiFact Florida
Even interpreted charitably, her claim is greatly misleading
Hedge fund managers "pay less in taxes than nurses and truck drivers."
One, certainly not all
Says "all my grandparents" immigrated to America.
The stats were better under Clinton, but not 100 times better
The number of jobs created and people lifted out of poverty during Bill Clinton’s presidency was "a hundred times" what it was under President Ronald Reagan.
No, he's just not okay with one bill
McCain "still thinks it's okay when women don't earn equal pay for equal work."
Only if "you" are a family of four
"If you are driving on average in America this summer, you'll save — according to Department of Energy figures — about $70."
Nope, Obama was first in the Senate, too
"I actually started criticizing the war in Iraq before (Obama) did."
His plan includes adults
Obama "only wants your children to have health insurance."
She has experience, but maybe not at math
Says the difference between her and Barack Obama is "about 35 years of experience."
No, it was a boon to renewable fuel industry
"So that 2005 energy bill was a big step backwards on the path to clean, renewable energy. That's why I voted against it."
The Clintons are using 5 shell companies to save on taxes in Delaware
Two of the five are tied to Bill and Hillary Clinton specifically. One, WJC, LLC, is used by the former president to collect his consulting fees. The other, ZFS Holdings, LLC, was used by the former secretary of state to process her $5.5 million book advance from Simon & Schuster. Three additional shell companies belong to the Clinton Foundation.
There is nothing illegal about the Clintons' decision to take advantage of Delaware's tax laws. However, on the campaign trail last week, Hillary Clinton criticized the "super-rich" who use "outrageous tax havens and loopholes" to pay fewer taxes. She pledged that, as president, she would "shut down the so-called private tax system for the mega-wealthy," including legal tax avoidance activities, in order to "make sure that everyone pays their fair share here in America."
===
Do as I say, not as I do!
Two of the five are tied to Bill and Hillary Clinton specifically. One, WJC, LLC, is used by the former president to collect his consulting fees. The other, ZFS Holdings, LLC, was used by the former secretary of state to process her $5.5 million book advance from Simon & Schuster. Three additional shell companies belong to the Clinton Foundation.
There is nothing illegal about the Clintons' decision to take advantage of Delaware's tax laws. However, on the campaign trail last week, Hillary Clinton criticized the "super-rich" who use "outrageous tax havens and loopholes" to pay fewer taxes. She pledged that, as president, she would "shut down the so-called private tax system for the mega-wealthy," including legal tax avoidance activities, in order to "make sure that everyone pays their fair share here in America."
===
Do as I say, not as I do!
I love it when dimocraps get a free pass on things like this when R's would be getting skewered around the clock on every news outlet for doing or saying far less (Trent Lott, anyone?).
This isn't Hillary's first trip to the racist joke rodeo, either. Miserable hag...and a perfect representation of the dimocrap party.
One Lying WELCHING idiot posts a HEADLINE and PICTURE on the Cover of one of NYC's Major Newspapers skewering Hillary and DeBlasio for a racist Joke, and the other Idiot says, they are getting a free pass in the media for it.
hno: You just can't make up how stupid and disgusting the lying vermin is down here.
hno: You just can't make up how stupid and disgusting the lying vermin is down here.
Obama's comments on Clinton email raises concerns of bias
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 00:44, 13 April 2016 | UPDATED: 00:45, 13 April 2016
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says he believes his former secretary of state did not intentionally endanger national security in her handling of classified information. But he also says he's not trying to influence his administration's investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server.
The White House on Tuesday was under pressure to reconcile those two statements — asserting Obama's public defense of Clinton was not an attempt to meddle in an ongoing probe and that federal investigators will not be swayed by the boss' views.
"The president is committed to ensuring that individuals who are conducting criminal prosecutions do their work without influence from politicians or anybody that's involved in politics," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
+3
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton leaves the New York Times building after participating in a Glassdoor Pay Equality Roundtable, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Earnest's reassurances came amid growing criticism that Obama had put his finger on the scale with recent comments describing Clinton's use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state as mere "carelessness." In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Obama seemed to embrace the Clinton campaign's suggestion that the root of the controversy is over-classification — that too much government information is classified by bureaucrats after the fact. And most notably, Obama weighed in with his views on Clinton's intent.
"She would never intentionally put America in any kind of jeopardy," he said of Clinton, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.
The FBI is investigating whether sensitive information that flowed through Clinton's email server was mishandled.
There are also at least 38 civil lawsuits, including one filed by The Associated Press, seeking records related to Clinton's time as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.
It wasn't the first time that Obama has suggested that he doesn't think there's much to the email controversy. In October, he said flatly he didn't think the set-up posed a national security problem.
Each time he weighs in, it raises legal experts' eyebrows and roils political adversaries. Republicans this week have suggested Obama is signaling prosecutors to go easy, and using a different standard for Clinton that has been applied to other administration officials investigated for mishandling information, like former CIA Director David Petraeus.
The White House routinely dodges questions about ongoing Justice Department investigations, saying it does not want to appear to be trying to influence the outcome. Obama's decision to twice express his thoughts seems to cast aside some of that caution in favor of defending a political ally and former administration official.
"It does raise concerns for prosecutors," said Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University and a former federal prosecutor. "If it's a close case, how am I to judge whether to pursue charges when the president has said he doesn't think there's anything there? I don't think it will prejudice any decision but it certainly gives the appearance of that."
The White House says Obama's comments as based solely on publicly available information. The president has not asked for or received a briefing "on the confidential elements of the ongoing investigation," Earnest said. In the interview, Obama said, "I haven't been sorting through each and every aspect of this."
The president made assurances he would not intervene.
"I do not talk to the attorney general about pending investigations. I do not talk to FBI directors about pending investigations. We have a strict line, and always have maintained it," he said. "I guarantee that there is no political influence in any investigation conducted by the Justice Department, or the FBI, not just in this case, but in any case."
.
+3
White House press secretary Josh Earnest speaks during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, answering a variety of questions from Speaker Ryan to Brazil. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
+3
President Barack Obama speaks at the newly designated Belmont-Paul Women¿s Equality National Monument, formerly known as the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, on National Equal Pay Day, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, in Washington. The museum says the house was erected more than 200 years ago. The National Woman's Party bought the house in 1929 and uses it as its headquarters, advocating for equality and full political representation for women. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
.
.
Threat of charges over Clinton's emails is the partisan elephant in the room
Democrats don’t expect the Department of Justice’s decision to influence the election – but many will be relieved to see it removed from the political calendar
As the Democratic primary enters its final stages, one possible contest remains in which there are no opinion polls or past results to guide those looking for clues to the outcome.
Hillary Rodham Clinton versus the US Department of Justice is a theoretical showdown that few in the party want, or expect, to see influencing the outcome of the presidential election, but that many will still be relieved to see removed from the political calendar.
The necessary secrecy surrounding the FBI’s investigation into whether laws were broken by her use of a private server while secretary of state means the threat of criminal charges remains a partisan elephant in the room –regularly cited by Republican opponents and largely ignored by both Democratic candidates.
Barack Obama spoke longest on the subject this weekend. In a rare interview on Fox News, he insisted seven times that the decision about whether to prosecute Clinton for breaching security rules was being handled no differently just because she might be his party’s next presidential nominee.
“I guarantee that there is no political influence in any investigation conducted by the Justice Department or the FBI, not just in this case, but in any case,” said the president. “Guaranteed. Full stop. Nobody gets treated differently when it comes to the Justice Department, because nobody is above the law.”
Though he acknowledged “carelessness” in how his former adversary in 2008 had managed her emails while working for him, Obama also stressed his belief that no national security risk was posed by the personal email system, even if some of what passed through it has subsequently been deemed classified.
“She would never intentionally put America in any kind of jeopardy,” said Obama. “I continue to believe that she has not jeopardized America’s national security.”
The argument employed is one repeated by the Clinton campaign, and shared by many independent legal and security experts who have looked at the case.
“What I also know, because I handle a lot of classified information, is that there are – there’s classified, and then there’s classified,” explained Obama. “There’s stuff that is really top secret top secret, and there’s stuff that is being presented to the president or the secretary of state, that you might not want on the transom, or going out over the wire, but is basically stuff that you could get in open source.”
“Over-classification run amok” was how Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon described the situation in January when it first emerged that 22 of the emails on the server that were due to be released as part of efforts to show it was harmless had been deemed “top secret” on further review.
The argument matters not because there is ambiguity over the rules dealing with classified information, but because it bolsters the defence used by Clinton that she did not, and could not, have known at the time that some of these then unclassified emails might later receive classified status.
Any successful prosecution would require evidence that someone “knowingly or willingly” held onto classified data, handled in it a “grossly negligent” way or deliberately passed it to someone not entitled to see it – all tests it is hard to see applying in her case.
But as the 100 or so FBI investigators rumoured to be involved in the case move from examining the physical evidence to a final stage that is expected to include interviewing Clinton and her top team, there is always a chance they could encounter the unexpected.
If the claims of independence are to be taken at face value, even the White House may not know what investigators have found until they present their recommendations. If there is political interference, the number of people involved presents a high risk of it leaking – with potentially devastating consequences for two Democratic presidencies.
“I do not talk to the attorney general about pending investigations. I do not talk to FBI directors about pending investigations,” Obama said. “We have a strict line and always have maintained it.”
The biggest risk, according to one senior DoJ source not involved with the case but familiar with some of its activities, is not that Clinton could be indicted but that some of her team could be judged to have strayed close to the line and the DoJ could feel duty-bound to say so.
In this scenario, the campaign risks damage either by association or through the appearance of throwing junior staffers to the wind to protect the candidate – or both.
Already, the technician in charge of setting up the server at Clinton’s home has reportedly been granted immunity by the FBI in exchange for cooperating – an often routine procedure in such circumstances but one which underlines what is at stake.
All public officials have it drummed into them how important the treatment of classified information is, and the fact that Clinton can point to other senior leaders who also used private email accounts, or rules that allow it in certain circumstances, does not mean it is something that those involved have entered into lightly.
Perhaps the worst-case scenario is that one of the tight circle of aides who followed Clinton from the State Department to her presidential campaign – several of whom also used private email accounts on the server – is identified as having knowingly moved classified material to the unclassified setting.
In such a case, the DoJ faces the unpalatable prospect of bringing charges that it knows may not stick in court but could nonetheless change the next presidential race forever, or exercising prosecutorial discretion that few will believe is entirely independent and risk undermining the outgoing president’s legacy.
Though this still appears a remote risk, as the clock ticks down to a likely decision in the coming weeks, there are many in both the Obama and Clinton camps hoping that the Department of Justice is not forced to choose.
Dan Roberts in Washington
@RobertsDan
Tuesday 12 April 2016 15.53 BST
[h=1]Team Clinton: Sanders ‘rigging the system’ with quest for superdelegates[/h]
Loser!@#0
Loser!@#0
New York’s transit workers union endorses Bernie Sanders
This is more than a token endorsement.
New York’s transit workers union is feeling the Bern, throwing its support behind the fiery Vermont senator’s quest for the presidency.
The Transport Workers Union Local 100, representing 42,000 workers in the New York region, on Wednesday endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders ahead of the state’s April 19 presidential primary.
This is more than a token endorsement.
New York’s transit workers union is feeling the Bern, throwing its support behind the fiery Vermont senator’s quest for the presidency.
The Transport Workers Union Local 100, representing 42,000 workers in the New York region, on Wednesday endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders ahead of the state’s April 19 presidential primary.
During an interview with the editorial team of the New York Daily News, Hillary Clinton admitted her tax proposals will increase taxes on the American people by at least $1 trillion over the next ten years. Here is the key exchange from the meeting, according to a transcript released by the Daily News:
Clinton: I have connected up my proposals for the kind of investments I want to make with the taxes that I think have to be raised. So on individual pieces of my agenda, I try to demonstrate clearly that I have a way for paying for paid family leave, for example, for debt-free tuition. So I would spend about $100 billion a year. And I think it's affordable, and I think it's a smart way to make investments, to go back to our economic discussion, that will contribute to growing the economy.
It always amuses me how Liberals think tax and spend is an investment.
Clinton: I have connected up my proposals for the kind of investments I want to make with the taxes that I think have to be raised. So on individual pieces of my agenda, I try to demonstrate clearly that I have a way for paying for paid family leave, for example, for debt-free tuition. So I would spend about $100 billion a year. And I think it's affordable, and I think it's a smart way to make investments, to go back to our economic discussion, that will contribute to growing the economy.
It always amuses me how Liberals think tax and spend is an investment.
[h=2]Hillary Appointed a Former Fundraiser to State Dept While He Created Firm Connected to Bill[/h]SHARE
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BY: Natalie Johnson
April 13, 2016 2:19 pm
Hillary Clinton appointed a former fundraiser to a special position at the State Department while he was laying the foundation for what would soon become a multi-million dollar global consulting firm with connections to former president Bill Clinton, Politico reported Wednesday.
Six months after Hillary Clinton was sworn into office as secretary of state in 2009, she moved to hire Declan Kelly to serve as her economic envoy to Northern Ireland and tasked him with encouraging business to invest in the region.
Kelly was brought on as a “special government employee,” a rare status typically designated for individuals with specialized skills, like scientists, which allowed him to receive cash from private firms.
Kelly, a businessman born into poverty in Ireland, did not take a salary from State Department. He employed five additional staffers through his own funding and worked to advance Hillary Clinton’s goal of spurring U.S. companies to invest in the nation.
But Politico’s findings highlighted another aspect of Kelly’s work during his time at the State Department that extended far beyond “public service.”
Politico reported:
Politico revealed that while Kelly was serving with the State Department, he and Band were working together to “lay the groundwork” for their consulting firm, shedding new light on the overlapping ties between Hillary Clinton’s “political network” and government duties.
In October 2010, Hillary Clinton praised her economic envoy for successfully persuading U.S. companies to invest in Northern Ireland, creating “more than 1,000 new jobs” in the region. One of those companies included consulting firm Dow Chemical, which was a longtime client of Kelly’s.
“I appointed Declan [Kelly] to this post in September 2009, and just a little more than a year later, I think, it proves the wisdom of that appointment,” Clinton said during a State conference.
In the meantime, Kelly, Band, and longtime associate Paul Keary launched individual consulting firms that would ultimately merge together as Teneo. The three businessmen worked across their individual firms to “woo” clients and employees while Kelly still retained special access to Hillary Clinton as a diplomatic envoy.
Many of the clients who ended up signing with Keary “overlapped with Bill Clinton’s work,” according to Politico.
Kelly resigned from his State Department position in May 2011. Politico reported that the next month, “he, Band, and Keary publicly announced Teneo, moving all their offices, employees, and already impressive client roster into one location.”
Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, never filled the special envoy vacancy left by Kelly.
Soon after launch, Teneo hired Bill Clinton as a paid advisor. The firm solicited donations for the Clinton Foundation and coordinated high-paid speaking opportunities for the former president.
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Hillary Clinton / AP
BY: Natalie Johnson
April 13, 2016 2:19 pm
Hillary Clinton appointed a former fundraiser to a special position at the State Department while he was laying the foundation for what would soon become a multi-million dollar global consulting firm with connections to former president Bill Clinton, Politico reported Wednesday.
Six months after Hillary Clinton was sworn into office as secretary of state in 2009, she moved to hire Declan Kelly to serve as her economic envoy to Northern Ireland and tasked him with encouraging business to invest in the region.
Kelly was brought on as a “special government employee,” a rare status typically designated for individuals with specialized skills, like scientists, which allowed him to receive cash from private firms.
Kelly, a businessman born into poverty in Ireland, did not take a salary from State Department. He employed five additional staffers through his own funding and worked to advance Hillary Clinton’s goal of spurring U.S. companies to invest in the nation.
But Politico’s findings highlighted another aspect of Kelly’s work during his time at the State Department that extended far beyond “public service.”
Politico reported:
While serving as Clinton’s special envoy, reaching out to global corporations for those investments, he was also working for two of them as a private consultant–earning about $2.4 million from Dow Chemical, a longtime client of his and one of the firms that participated in Clinton’s Ireland initiative. It was also during this time period that Kelly and Doug Band, a close aide to former President Bill Clinton, were preparing to launch a global consulting business that would soon become a well-known and controversial success story. Their new venture, Teneo Holdings, would go on to employ numerous Clinton associates including her closest confidante Huma Abedin and, for a time, Bill Clinton as “honorary chairman,” giving clients rare access to the couple and their network of world leaders.
Kelly met Band–Bill Clinton’s former advisor who was referred to as his surrogate son–in 2008 while he was campaigning for Hillary Clinton’s first presidential bid.
Politico revealed that while Kelly was serving with the State Department, he and Band were working together to “lay the groundwork” for their consulting firm, shedding new light on the overlapping ties between Hillary Clinton’s “political network” and government duties.
In October 2010, Hillary Clinton praised her economic envoy for successfully persuading U.S. companies to invest in Northern Ireland, creating “more than 1,000 new jobs” in the region. One of those companies included consulting firm Dow Chemical, which was a longtime client of Kelly’s.
“I appointed Declan [Kelly] to this post in September 2009, and just a little more than a year later, I think, it proves the wisdom of that appointment,” Clinton said during a State conference.
In the meantime, Kelly, Band, and longtime associate Paul Keary launched individual consulting firms that would ultimately merge together as Teneo. The three businessmen worked across their individual firms to “woo” clients and employees while Kelly still retained special access to Hillary Clinton as a diplomatic envoy.
Many of the clients who ended up signing with Keary “overlapped with Bill Clinton’s work,” according to Politico.
Kelly resigned from his State Department position in May 2011. Politico reported that the next month, “he, Band, and Keary publicly announced Teneo, moving all their offices, employees, and already impressive client roster into one location.”
Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, never filled the special envoy vacancy left by Kelly.
Soon after launch, Teneo hired Bill Clinton as a paid advisor. The firm solicited donations for the Clinton Foundation and coordinated high-paid speaking opportunities for the former president.
[h=2]Dark Money Funds Super PAC Coordinating With Clinton Campaign[/h]Super PAC financed entirely by dark money groups donates $100,00 to Correct the Record
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BY: Lachlan Markay
April 15, 2016 3:00 pm
A Democratic political group funded by dark money nonprofits poured another six figures into a super PAC backing Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign last month, newly released financial disclosure records show.
Super PAC Fair Share Action donated$100,000 in March to Correct the Record, a super PAC coordinating directly with the Clinton campaign, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission.
The donations were reported just a day after Clinton defended Super PAC support for her campaign at Thursday evening’s Democratic presidential debate.
Clinton likened that support to outside spending on President Barack Obama’s behalf, but experts say she has pushed the envelope further than any presidential candidate in the post-Citizens United era.
Fair Share Action’s contributions are just the latest given to pro-Clinton PACS: It donated $1 millionlast year to Priorities USA Action, another Super PAC supporting the former secretary of state.
The sources of those funds are nearly impossible to trace. Super PACs are required to disclose their financial contributors, but in Fair Share Action’s case, those contributors are all 501(c)(4) “dark money” groups that are allowed to keep their donors secret.
Fair Share Action has reported only two donors since 2015: Fair Share Inc., its dark-money arm; and Environment America, Inc., another dark-money group.
The two groups donated a combined $1.1 million to Fair Share Action in a period of five days last June.
Fair Share Action and its two donors are all affiliated with the Public Interest Network, a web of political and policy groups that support Democratic political candidates at the federal and state levels.
Clinton rival Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday raised the issue of dark money support for Super PACs, which allows explicitly political groups to obscure the sources of funds they spend on electioneering activities.
“Let’s talk about super PACs and 501(c)(4)s, money which is completely undisclosed,” Sanders said. “Where does the money come from? Do we really feel confident about a candidate saying that she’s going to bring change in America when she is so dependent on big money interests?”
Clinton defended her third-party supporters by claiming that President Obama has engaged in similar practices.
“President Obama had a super PAC when he ran. President Obama took tens of millions of dollars from contributors,” Clinton said.
While Obama did rely on Super PAC support despite disavowing recently the loosening of campaign finance laws, experts say Clinton has stretched the bounds of campaign finance law further than any presidential candidate since the Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United decision.
Correct the Record, the group that Fair Share Action began supporting last month, has been central to the controversy over Clinton’s financial practices.
Super PACs are generally prohibited from coordinating with campaigns, but Correct the Recordmaintains that its Internet-only communications strategy exempts it from that prohibition.
The group, which is affiliated with pro-Clinton operative David Brock’s advocacy network, uses its website and other online media to push back against Clinton’s critics.
It has targeted Sanders on numerous occasions, aiming to undercut his attacks on support for Clinton by groups empowered by the Citizens United decision, which Clinton has pledged to help overturn.
The Supreme Court’s decision in that case overturned laws that prohibited a nonprofit group from airing a documentary critical of Clinton within 30 days of a primary election.
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BY: Lachlan Markay
April 15, 2016 3:00 pm
A Democratic political group funded by dark money nonprofits poured another six figures into a super PAC backing Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign last month, newly released financial disclosure records show.
Super PAC Fair Share Action donated$100,000 in March to Correct the Record, a super PAC coordinating directly with the Clinton campaign, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission.
The donations were reported just a day after Clinton defended Super PAC support for her campaign at Thursday evening’s Democratic presidential debate.
Clinton likened that support to outside spending on President Barack Obama’s behalf, but experts say she has pushed the envelope further than any presidential candidate in the post-Citizens United era.
Fair Share Action’s contributions are just the latest given to pro-Clinton PACS: It donated $1 millionlast year to Priorities USA Action, another Super PAC supporting the former secretary of state.
The sources of those funds are nearly impossible to trace. Super PACs are required to disclose their financial contributors, but in Fair Share Action’s case, those contributors are all 501(c)(4) “dark money” groups that are allowed to keep their donors secret.
Fair Share Action has reported only two donors since 2015: Fair Share Inc., its dark-money arm; and Environment America, Inc., another dark-money group.
The two groups donated a combined $1.1 million to Fair Share Action in a period of five days last June.
Fair Share Action and its two donors are all affiliated with the Public Interest Network, a web of political and policy groups that support Democratic political candidates at the federal and state levels.
Clinton rival Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday raised the issue of dark money support for Super PACs, which allows explicitly political groups to obscure the sources of funds they spend on electioneering activities.
“Let’s talk about super PACs and 501(c)(4)s, money which is completely undisclosed,” Sanders said. “Where does the money come from? Do we really feel confident about a candidate saying that she’s going to bring change in America when she is so dependent on big money interests?”
Clinton defended her third-party supporters by claiming that President Obama has engaged in similar practices.
“President Obama had a super PAC when he ran. President Obama took tens of millions of dollars from contributors,” Clinton said.
While Obama did rely on Super PAC support despite disavowing recently the loosening of campaign finance laws, experts say Clinton has stretched the bounds of campaign finance law further than any presidential candidate since the Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United decision.
Correct the Record, the group that Fair Share Action began supporting last month, has been central to the controversy over Clinton’s financial practices.
Super PACs are generally prohibited from coordinating with campaigns, but Correct the Recordmaintains that its Internet-only communications strategy exempts it from that prohibition.
The group, which is affiliated with pro-Clinton operative David Brock’s advocacy network, uses its website and other online media to push back against Clinton’s critics.
It has targeted Sanders on numerous occasions, aiming to undercut his attacks on support for Clinton by groups empowered by the Citizens United decision, which Clinton has pledged to help overturn.
The Supreme Court’s decision in that case overturned laws that prohibited a nonprofit group from airing a documentary critical of Clinton within 30 days of a primary election.
