Scahill writes: "The idea that her own mother's foundation would
accidentally list her as a vice president for years as result of a clerical
error is just not believable. The Democrats should go to town on this
obvious attempt to mislead the Senate."
Betsy DeVos, Trump's pick to head the Department of Education. (photo:
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty)
Trump Education Nominee Betsy DeVos Lied to the Senate
By Jeremy Scahill, The Intercept
19 January 17
There are many reasons Betsy DeVos's nomination to serve as Donald Trump's
education secretary could be justifiably quashed by the U.S. Senate. Her
long public record indicates she is a religious Christian zealot who does
not believe in the actual separation of church and state, wants public
monies funneled into religious schools, and has contributed through family
foundations to bigoted groups with a militant anti-gay agenda. During her
confirmation hearing she gave disturbing answers to questions about her
views of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, standardized
tests, and school vouchers. She also suggested guns have a place in American
schools, though her claim that they were necessary to defend students from
grizzly bear attacks was not very compelling.
DeVos is married to Richard DeVos, the heir to the Amway Corporation
fortune. She is also the sister of Blackwater founder Erik Prince, who is
secretly advising the Trump team on intelligence matters, as The Intercept
reported Tuesday. The Prince and DeVos families' merger through marriage was
reminiscent of the monarchies of old Europe, and since the 1980s they have
funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into Republican campaign coffers
and the war chests of far-right religious organizations, at least one of
which - the Family Research Council - has been designated an anti-LGBTQ hate
group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
As Mother Jones pointed out:
The Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation gave $275,000 to Focus on the
Family from 1999 to 2001 but hasn't donated since; it gave an additional
$35,760 to the group's Michigan and D.C. affiliates from 2001 to 2010. The
Prince Foundation donated $5.2 million to Focus on the Family and $275,000
to its Michigan affiliate from 2001 to 2014. (It also gave $6.1 million to
the Family Research Council, which has fought against same-sex marriage and
anti-bullying programs - and is listed as an "anti-LGBT hate group" by the
Southern Poverty Law Center. The FRC used to be a division of Focus on the
Family before it became an independent nonprofit, with Dobson serving on its
board, in 1992.)
During Tuesday's hearing, the Democratic senators protested Republican chair
Lamar Alexander's unprecedented ruling that senators would only be permitted
one round of questioning. Nonetheless, several senators pressed DeVos on the
contributions made by her and other family members through their
foundations. DeVos, clearly prepared for such questions, assured the
committee that she has nothing to do with the contributions made by her
mother's foundation, the Prince Foundation (formerly known as the Edgar and
Elsa Prince Foundation). DeVos said that her immediate family - presumably
meaning her husband and children - had nothing to do with the financing of
anti-gay causes and groups and that she has never supported "conversion
therapy" for gay people.
Newly elected Democratic Sen. Margaret Hassan pressed DeVos on these claims.
She asked DeVos directly if she was on the board of her mother's foundation
during the period in which large donations were made to Focus on the Family.
DeVos said that she was not on the foundation's board.
When I heard that, I pulled up the 990 tax documents of the Prince
Foundation, which I investigated for my book "Blackwater." Betsy DeVos was
clearly listed as a vice president of the foundation's board, along with her
brother Erik, for many years, at least until 2014. DeVos was a vice
president during the precise period Hassan was referring to. I then began a
tweet storm about this lie:
At the very end of the hearing, Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on
the committee, allocated the small time she had left to Hassan, who
proceeded to reference the 990 tax forms. DeVos then made an astonishing
claim. These government tax forms, filed by her own mother's foundation,
were incorrect. For years. Many years. "That was a clerical error. I can
assure you I have never made decisions on my mother's behalf on her
foundation's board."
The idea that her own mother's foundation would accidentally list her as a
vice president for years as result of a clerical error is just not
believable. The Democrats should go to town on this obvious attempt to
mislead the Senate. This alone should disqualify DeVos, though there is a
vast ocean of other reasons they could fish from.
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Betsy DeVos, Trump's pick to head the Department of Education. (photo:
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty)
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/18/trump-education-nominee-betsy-devos-lied
-to-the-senatehttps://theintercept.com/2017/01/18/trump-education-nominee-be
tsy-devos-lied-to-the-senate
Trump Education Nominee Betsy DeVos Lied to the Senate
By Jeremy Scahill, The Intercept
19 January 17
here are many reasons Betsy DeVos's nomination to serve as Donald Trump's
education secretary could be justifiably quashed by the U.S. Senate. Her
long public record indicates she is a religious Christian zealot who does
not believe in the actual separation of church and state, wants public
monies funneled into religious schools, and has contributed through family
foundations to bigoted groups with a militant anti-gay agenda. During her
confirmation hearing she gave disturbing answers to questions about her
views of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, standardized
tests, and school vouchers. She also suggested guns have a place in American
schools, though her claim that they were necessary to defend students from
grizzly bear attacks was not very compelling.
DeVos is married to Richard DeVos, the heir to the Amway Corporation
fortune. She is also the sister of Blackwater founder Erik Prince, who is
secretly advising the Trump team on intelligence matters, as The Intercept
reported Tuesday. The Prince and DeVos families' merger through marriage was
reminiscent of the monarchies of old Europe, and since the 1980s they have
funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into Republican campaign coffers
and the war chests of far-right religious organizations, at least one of
which - the Family Research Council - has been designated an anti-LGBTQ hate
group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
As Mother Jones pointed out:
The Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation gave $275,000 to Focus on the
Family from 1999 to 2001 but hasn't donated since; it gave an additional
$35,760 to the group's Michigan and D.C. affiliates from 2001 to 2010. The
Prince Foundation donated $5.2 million to Focus on the Family and $275,000
to its Michigan affiliate from 2001 to 2014. (It also gave $6.1 million to
the Family Research Council, which has fought against same-sex marriage and
anti-bullying programs - and is listed as an "anti-LGBT hate group" by the
Southern Poverty Law Center. The FRC used to be a division of Focus on the
Family before it became an independent nonprofit, with Dobson serving on its
board, in 1992.)
During Tuesday's hearing, the Democratic senators protested Republican chair
Lamar Alexander's unprecedented ruling that senators would only be permitted
one round of questioning. Nonetheless, several senators pressed DeVos on the
contributions made by her and other family members through their
foundations. DeVos, clearly prepared for such questions, assured the
committee that she has nothing to do with the contributions made by her
mother's foundation, the Prince Foundation (formerly known as the Edgar and
Elsa Prince Foundation). DeVos said that her immediate family - presumably
meaning her husband and children - had nothing to do with the financing of
anti-gay causes and groups and that she has never supported "conversion
therapy" for gay people.
Newly elected Democratic Sen. Margaret Hassan pressed DeVos on these claims.
She asked DeVos directly if she was on the board of her mother's foundation
during the period in which large donations were made to Focus on the Family.
DeVos said that she was not on the foundation's board.
When I heard that, I pulled up the 990 tax documents of the Prince
Foundation, which I investigated for my book "Blackwater." Betsy DeVos was
clearly listed as a vice president of the foundation's board, along with her
brother Erik, for many years, at least until 2014. DeVos was a vice
president during the precise period Hassan was referring to. I then began a
tweet storm about this lie:
At the very end of the hearing, Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on
the committee, allocated the small time she had left to Hassan, who
proceeded to reference the 990 tax forms. DeVos then made an astonishing
claim. These government tax forms, filed by her own mother's foundation,
were incorrect. For years. Many years. "That was a clerical error. I can
assure you I have never made decisions on my mother's behalf on her
foundation's board."
The idea that her own mother's foundation would accidentally list her as a
vice president for years as result of a clerical error is just not
believable. The Democrats should go to town on this obvious attempt to
mislead the Senate. This alone should disqualify DeVos, though there is a
vast ocean of other reasons they could fish from.
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
