Why Trump Refuses to Release Tax Returns?

Posted on April 26, 2016April 26, 2016 by Denise Simon

The Panama Papers scandal led to many wealthy elites across the world being exposed for in many cases illicit financial transactions. Further, continued investigations by journalists have exposed the likes of John Kerry and the Hillary campaign leaders, a little known obscure address in Delaware. While tax havens are not illegal due to loopholes in the tax code, those that exploit them call into question how and why the tax havens are used in the first place. Humm….Trump will not release his tax returns until after the convention.

Enter the Clintons and oh…Donald Trump.

Trump and Clinton share Delaware tax ‘loophole’ address with 285,000 firms

1209 North Orange Street in Wilmington is a nondescript two-storey building yet is home to Apple, American Airlines, Walmart and presidential candidates

TheGuardian: There aren’t many things upon which Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump agree, especially as they court very different Delaware voters ahead of a primary on Tuesday. But the candidates for president share an affinity for the same nondescript two-storey office building in Wilmington. A building that has become famous for helping tens of thousands of companies avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in tax through the so-called “Delaware loophole”.

The receptionist at 1209 North Orange Street isn’t surprised that a journalist has turned up unannounced on a sunny weekday afternoon.

“You know I can’t speak to you,” she says. A yellow post-it note on her computer screen reads “MEDIA: Chuck Miller” with the phone number of the company’s director of corporate communications. Miller can’t answer many questions either, except to say that the company does not advise clients on their tax affairs.

The Guardian is not the first media organisation to turn up at the offices of Corporation Trust Centre, and it’s unlikely to be the last.

This squat, yellow brick office building just north of Wilmington’s rundown downtown is the registered address of more than 285,000 companies. That’s more than any other known address in the world, and 15 times more than the 18,000 registered in Ugland House, a five-storey building in the Cayman Islands that Barack Obama called “either the biggest building in the world, or the biggest tax scam on record”.

Officially, 1209 North Orange is home to Apple, American Airlines, Coca-Cola, Walmart and dozens of other companies in the Fortune 500 list of America’s biggest companies. Being registered in Delaware lets companies take advantage of strict corporate secrecy rules, business-friendly courts and the “Delaware loophole”, which can allow companies to legally shift earnings from other states to Delaware, where they are not taxed on non-physical incomes generated outside of the state.

The loophole is said to have cost other states more than $9bn in lost taxes over the past decade and led to Delaware to be described as “one of the world’s biggest havens for tax avoidance and evasion”.

But it’s not just big corporations that have chosen to make 1209 North Orange their official home.

Both the leading candidates for president – Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump – have companies registered at 1209 North Orange, and have refused to explain why.

Clinton, who has repeatedly promised that as president she will crack down on “outrageous tax havens and loopholes that super-rich people across the world are exploiting in Panama and elsewhere”, collected more than $16m in public speaking fees and book royalties in 2014 through the doors of 1209, according to the Clintons’ tax return.

Just eight days after stepping down as secretary of state in February 2013, Clinton registered ZFS Holdings LLC at CTC’s offices. Bill Clinton set up WJC LLC, a vehicle to collect his consultation fees, at the same address in 2008.

A spokesman for Clinton said: “ZFS was set up when Secretary Clinton left the State Department as an entity to manage her book and speaking income. No federal, state, or local taxes were saved by the Clintons as a result of this structure.”

The Clintons’ companies share the office with several of Trump’s companies. They include Trump International Management Corp and several companies that form part of Hudson Waterfront Associates, a Trump partnership to develop more than $1bn worth of luxury condos on the west side of Manhattan.

Of the 515 companies on Trump’s official Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing, 378 are registered in Delaware, he revealed, after being questioned by the Guardian about why so many of his New York-based companies are incorporated in Delaware.

He said he asked his staff to find out how many entities he has in Delaware. “I figured they’d maybe say two or three, right?” Trump said at a rally in Harrington, Delaware, on Friday. “We have 378 entities registered in the state of Delaware, meaning I pay you a lot of money, folks. I don’t feel at all guilty, OK?”

Among them are 40 Wall Street Corporation, Trump’s 72-storey downtown tower that was the tallest building in the world for two months in 1930, and the Trump Carousel in Central Park.

The Trump campaign did not respond to questions about whether Trump was using Delaware in order to avoid taxes in New York.

It is not unusual for rich individuals and companies to register their business in Delaware due to the ease of company formation in the state, but the Clintons’ and Trump’s companies in the state are likely to come under greater scrutiny as the US presidential primary roadshow rolls into the state on Tuesday. A poll by research firm Gravis Marketing last week showed Trump had a 37-point lead over John Kasich; Clinton polled 45%, ahead of Sanders on 38% in the same poll.

A report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, titled Delaware: An Onshore Tax Haven, said the state’s tax code made it “a magnet for people looking to create anonymous shell companies, which individuals and corporations can use to evade an inestimable amount in federal and foreign taxes”.

Several accounting experts said there are many legitimate reasons why US and foreign companies incorporate in Delaware, particularly because of its highly respected Court of Chancery and business-friendly state government. The process of setting up a company in the state can be completed in just a few hours and requires less paperwork than registering for a library card in the state. There are more than 1m companies registered in the state – more than Delaware’s population of 935,000.

In the US presidential election, Clinton’s rival Bernie Sanders has led the charge to counter corporate greed, and highlighted the tax havens revealed by the Panama Papers as evidence that “the wealthiest people and largest corporations must start paying their fair share of taxes”.

Clinton has called offshore tax havens “a perversion” of the legal code, and Obama called for reform of the international system earlier this month. Even Trump has said he supports raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, “including myself”, though his tax plan offers cuts.

The Guardian Media Group, owner of theguardian.com, is registered in Dover, Delaware. “Guardian Media Group has business operations in the UK, US and Australia,” a Guardian spokesperson said. “The group’s assets are held entirely by companies in these countries and are fully subject to prevailing tax laws and regulations. The group also has a UK endowment fund which holds a mixture of UK and non-UK assets and is fully subject to UK tax laws and regulations.”

Heinz and John Kerry Deep Tax Havens in Panama Papers

Posted on April 26, 2016April 26, 2016 by Denise Simon

EXCLUSIVE: Kerry, Heinz Family Have Millions Invested In Offshore Tax Havens

Pollock/DailyCaller: Secretary of State John Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz have invested millions of U.S. dollars through family trusts in at least 11 offshore tax havens, according to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group.

The revelation comes on the heels of the release of the Panama Papers, a treasure trove of 11.5 million legal and financial records documenting how some of the world’s richest and most powerful people have used offshore bank accounts to conceal their wealth and avoid taxes.

Since the release of the papers, no American politician has been identified as using the secretive offshore accounts.

But a DCNF investigation has confirmed that the former Massachusetts Democratic senator and his billionaire wife, using an elaborate set of Heinz family trusts, have invested “more than $1 million” each into 11 separate offshore accounts — mainly hedge funds in the Cayman Islands.

The investments were made during both Kerry’s tenure in the Senate and in his present position as the nation’s chief diplomat.

The trusts funneled millions of dollars over the years into various offshore investment vehicles through a Heinz trust called the “Heinz Family Commingled Alternative Investment Fund.”

Two other trusts appear to have been set up by the Heinz family since Kerry was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2013 to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. One is called “HFI Intermediate Fund II” and other the “HFI Dividend Investments.” HFI stands for the Heinz Family Investments.

Another Heinz trust, called “HP Imperial,” invests in companies throughout Asia, including state-run companies within the People’s Republic of China. It is an interesting decision by the Heinz family, given Kerry’s present duties.

When Kerry joined the Obama administration in February 2013, he was considered the second wealthiest member of the Senate, with personal assets totaling nearly $200 million.

Teresa Heinz inherited hundreds of millions of dollars when her former husband, Republican Sen. John Heinz of Pennsylvania, died in 1991 in an airplane crash. Forbes estimates Heinz’s net worth today is $1 billion.

Even after his ascension as secretary of state, the Heinz family continues to make sizable investments in tax havens, a fact that doesn’t sit well with some who would normally be supportive of Kerry.

“Well I say it doesn’t look good by any means,” said Susan Harley, deputy director of Congress Watch, a progressive lobby organization founded by Ralph Nader.

“There’s always a question of whether it’s tax avoidance or tax evasion,” she told TheDCNF. “We would expect our government servants to uphold the law. Those folks need to be held to the same standards as everyone else.”

Obama recently lashed out at U.S. citizens who use tax havens.

On April 5, a few days after the Panama Papers were released, the president said the rich “have enough lawyers and enough accountants to wiggle out of responsibilities that ordinary citizens are having to abide by.” He said they were “gaming the system.”

Harley said the president might not be pleased with some of his cabinet members investing in tax havens: “Given what the president has said, it doesn’t sound like he would be in favor of that kind of behavior as far as people in his cabinet.”

For its part, State Department Spokesman Adm. John Kirby told TheDCNF Kerry is not a beneficiary of the investments and does not own them.

“Secretary Kerry has no offshore investments. He is not, nor has he ever been a beneficiary of Heinz Family and Marital Trusts and he has no decision-making power over them since they are entirely controlled by independent trustees,” said Kirby.

Heinz is a beneficiary, Kirby said, but he emphasized that the investments “are entirely controlled by independent trustees.” He declined to say who controls the trust and makes investment decisions.

The Kerry/Heinz family investments are so vast that Kerry’s federal financial disclosure form runs 169 pages in length, with about 10 investments per page.

Although Democrats are united in condemning offshore accounts, many Democrats, including Obama, have actually benefited from them.

The Fortress Fund, founded by James Dinan, is a tax shelter that is close to Democrats. The Heinz family invested “more than $1 million” in Fortress V when Kerry was a senator, according to his 2015 financial disclosure form.

Fortress is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, according to the company’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In 2006, Fortress first came to public attention when it was disclosed that the hedge fund paid Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards $480,000 for a “part time job.” Edwards had invested $16 million into Fortress.

The New York Times described the Fortress Fund in 2007, saying it was comprised of “thinly regulated pools of often risky investments,” and linked it to the subprime mortgage meltdown of 2008.

Dinan also was a top Obama bundler who raised between $50,000 to $100,000 in 2008, according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit campaign finance research group.

And Penta Asia Fund, based in the British Virgin Islands, was founded by former George Soros fund manager John Zwaanstra.

According to records from Kerry’s Senate filing and his federal disclosure filing, he and his family appear to have cut back on their offshore investments after he joined the Department of State, but did not eliminate them. In some instances, they actually invested more in various offshore funds.

The Kerry family trust offshore investments are in:

Abry Partners – The company finalized $42 billion in “leveraged transactions” according to its website. Incorporation: Cayman Islands. Kerry family investment was worth “more than $1 million” while he was in the Senate, but was reduced in 2014 to between $250K to $500K.

Cevian Capital – Is an active ownership investment firm that seeks ownership in undervalued public companies. Incorporated: George Town, Grand Cayman. This is the only offshore investment organized by the new Kerry family “HFI Diversified Investment Fund.” While secretary of state, Kerry and family invested “more than $1 million” in the fund. It pays annual dividends, interest and capital gains of $100,000 to $1 million.

DLJ Merchant Partners III — is a Delaware registered company, but as of 2013, it was managed by APriori Capital Partners, a Cayman Island registered firm. Kerry only had $100K in DLJ in 2014, but the family still receives dividends, rentals and royalties, interest and capital gains. Annual income is $50,000.

Dover Street VII – Seeks to buy investments in venture capital or buyouts in the U.S. and U.K. Incorporated: Cayman Islands. The family trust invested more than $1 million while Kerry was in the Senate. As secretary of state, the family expanded investments into four more funds. They get annual dividends, interest, rents royalties, and capital gains totaling $120,000 to $185,000.

Fortress V Fund – Specializes in buyouts and recapitalizations, according to Bloomberg. Incorporation: Cayman Islands. The trust investment: more than $1 million. After Kerry became secretary of state, the family reduced investment to $500,000 for Fortress V but added a new investment in “Fortress V Co-investment Fund” for $250,000. The family receive dividends, rents and royalties, interest and capital gains.

Owl Creek II – A hedge fund. Incorporation: Cayman Islands. Kerry family investment: More than $1 million in Senate filing; reduced to $100,000 from $1 million in 2014. The family receives dividends, rent and royalties, and capital gains up to $100,000 per year.

Penta Asia Fund – An Asia-focused hedge fund founded by Soros Fund manager John Zwaanstra. Registration: British Virgin Islands. The trusts investment began while Kerry was in the Senate with an investment of more than $1 million. It was liquidated in 2014.

Patron Capital Group III – The fund makes “opportunistic and value-oriented investments,” including “liquidity constrained property assets” predominantly in Western Europe. Registered in Guernsey and based in Gibraltar. While Kerry was in the Senate, the family invested more than $1 million, but that was reduced to $250,000 in 2014. They receive dividends, interest, and capital gains, now only $5,000 per year

Tiger Growth Equities – This fund primarily focuses investment in China, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Incorporation: Cayman Islands. More than $1 million in Kerry’s Senate filing. Kerry and family have continued their investment during his secretary of state years. They receive annual dividends, interest and capital gains estimated from $100,000 to $1 million.

Valinor Capital Partners – Is a “pooled investment hedge fund.” Incorporated: Cayman Islands. Kerry and family invested more than $1 million, receiving annual income from dividends, interest and capital gains of $100,000 to $1 million.

York European Opportunities fund – a hedge fund, that invests in “restructures, spinoffs, split-ups and proxy contests.” Incorporation: Cayman Islands. Kerry Family Investment: $1 million during the Senate term. Dividends: $100,000 to $1 million annually. Subsidiary York Capital Management’s number one investment is in the HJ Heinz Company.

“HP Imperial,” another Heinz trust invests in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and South Korea. Its biggest investments are in communist China, including the Alibaba Group; Boer Holdings, a Chinese electrical distribution company in Wuxi, Yixing and Shanghai; Hubao International Holdings, a tobacco company; Labixiaoxin Snacks Group, a Chinese snack food provider; Sands China, with six casinos in Macau; and Tibet 5100 Water Holdings, a Chinese-owned company trying to sell Tibetan premium water like Evian.

9/11: 28 Pages, Detainee Facts

Posted on April 26, 2016April 26, 2016 by Denise Simon

Ghassan al Sharbi also used a pro-bono progressive law firm to file a petition and lawsuit against President GW Bush.

He lived and received financial assistance during his time at the Islamic Society Tempe, Arizona. See the file/docket here. It should also be written, the Garland, Texas terror plot also included an Arizona footprint. (CAIR, Islamic Society of North America are implicated in the Holyland Foundation case, charities that raised funds for terror operations)

Noted as prisoner #237, and on November 7, 2005, the United States charged al-Sharbi and four other detainees with war crimes. They were expected to face a trial before a military commission. Al-Sharbi, Jabran Said bin al Qahtani, Binyam Ahmed Muhammad, and Sufyian Barhoumi faced conspiracy to murder charges for being part of an al-Qaeda bomb-making cell.^[5] Omar Khadr, 18 years old, faced both murder and conspiracy to murder charges.

Al-Sharbi initially wanted to decline legal representation; a pro bono attorney was arranged by the Center for Constitutional Rights and other organizations when the US had not provided any counsel to the detainees.^[6] In 2006, his pro bono attorney, Bob Rachlin, was trying to arrange for al-Sharbi to talk by phone with his parents, hoping they would persuade him to accept Rachlin’s legal assistance, which his father had initiated. He also left his wife and daughter in the United States when he fled to Pakistan. More here in further detail.

*****

Terror suspect whose flight certificate was linked to Saudis one of Gitmo’s most dangerous

FNC: One of Guantanamo Bay’s most dangerous and longest-held terror suspects is a Saudi national who knows how to fly planes and build sophisticated bombs, speaks fluent English and remains committed to killing Americans, say former U.S. officials who dealt with Ghassan al Sharbi face-to-face.

Revelations last week that Al Sharbi’s flight training certificate, tucked into a Saudi Arabian Embassy envelope, had been found in 2003 among a trove of documents buried in Pakistan following his arrest there, raised fresh questions about the Kingdom’s possible involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Although Al Sharbi, who trained with several of the 9/11 hijackers at an Arizona flight school, did not take part in the attacks, he is seen as one of the most lethal and committed terrorists held at the military base.

“In my view, Ghassan al Sharbi was one of the most dangerous men held in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay,” said retired Army Maj. Gen. Jay Hood, who oversaw the detention facility. “I knew him well and my assessment is informed by a number of direct interactions I had with him between 2004 and 2006. He is extremely intelligent, well educated, and committed to a violent Islamic ideology.”

“In my view, Ghassan al Sharbi was one of the most dangerous men held in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay.”

– Army Maj. Gen. Jay Hood

Al Sharbi’s record, training, testimony and connections to the Al Qaeda terror network that killed 3,000 Americans on 9/11 have largely been kept secret, but some details were quietly released last year in a top-secret report called “Document 17” that was declassified by the FBI. The report alluded to the discovery of his flight certificate inside an envelope from the Saudi Embassy in Washington, buried outside a Pakistani safehouse where he was captured by local forces on March 28, 2002. Information about the certificate was released in a 47-page work plan prepared for the FBI in June 2003 but not declassified until last July.

Born in Saudi Arabia, the 41-year-old terrorist is particularly dangerous, military officials and government documents said, because he speaks fluent English, has a degree in electrical engineering from an American university, took flying lessons with the 9/11 terrorists who crashed a plane into the Pentagon and is a proficient bomb maker.

No photo is available of Al Sharbi, who has been held at Guantanamo Bay since June 19, 2002.

The Guantánamo Review Task Force suggested in 2010 that Al Sharbi be prosecuted for war crimes, but that hasn’t yet occurred in the nearly 14 years he’s been held by U.S. forces.

“I suspect he is still being held because he is being considered by the Military Commissions for prosecution,” Hood said. “But I also suspect that those in the Intelligence community realize the potential threat he would pose as an operational planner and leader to any violent Islamic group. He is extraordinarily committed to his religion, and to using violence to combat capitalism in the Western world.”

The Obama administration has released dozens of detainees from Guantanamo Bay, which once held more than 600 terror suspects but now holds around 80. Al Sharbi ranks with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammad as one of the facility’s longest-held and most dangerous residents, according to Brian McGlinchey, director of 28Pages.org, a website that supports the movement to declassify documents believed to link top Saudi officials to the 9/11 hijackers.

“He’s been deemed a high-risk individual who allegedly attended a training camp in Afghanistan and is a self-proclaimed bomb-maker,” said McGlinchey, a former Army officer whose website was the first to report on Al Sharbi’s flight certificate being found. “Other detainees told interrogators Al Sharbi had been seen talking to Usama bin Laden, was very proficient with weapons and had been selected for specialized remote control detonation training.”

Al Sharbi was captured in Pakistan in 2002 along with Abu Zubaida, whom the U.S. government at one time believed was a top Al Qaeda lieutenant but later concluded was not.

Al Sharbi has never hidden his terrorist intentions.

“I am your enemy, I will fight the United States. Period,” he told a military judge, according to Paul Rester, who headed military intelligence, interrogation and analysis at Guantanamo on and off from 2002 until 2010.

“He was very forthcoming and very determined,” said Rester. “He was not in the planner-organizer echelon, he was in the executor-operator echelon. He made bombs, had direct ties to Bin Laden, and had sway over others because of that tie. He was extremely important to his terrorist network because he was well-trained and could make things work.”

The buried documents, which were recovered by the FBI, included manuals on bomb-making and other explosive devices, and are included among thousands of items confiscated from suspected terrorists being held at Guantanamo that filled a 2,000-square-foot room.

Born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1974, Al Sharbi lived in Arizona from 1998 to 2000 while studying electrical engineering at Mesa Community College and then at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz., in the months preceding 9/11. One of the founding members and president of the Islamic Student Society at Embry Riddle, he abruptly left the school in August 2001, and traveled to Pakistan with stops in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.

Known in Al Qaeda circles as the “electronic builder,” government reports say he was trained and taught others to produce circuit boards for use in remote-controlled car bombs, IEDS and other detonation devices that would be used to kill American soldiers and to help build remote-control devices that could be placed in the United States and detonated by a mobile phone from Pakistan.

In 1999, Al Sharbi and another suspected Al Qaeda operative were involved in an incident that caused a Washington-bound flight to be diverted and was mentioned in the 9/11 Commission report. The other man, who was flying with Al Shari, tried to enter the cockpit, which the commission concluded may have been an intelligence gathering operation to test in-flight security measures in preparation for the attacks that would come two years later.

Since he first entered Guantanamo, Al Sharbi’s behavior has been “generally non-compliant, often showing signs of aggression,” according to a report Hood completed while head of the facility. The 2004 report detailed an incident in which Al Sharbi assaulted a guard and numerous cases in which he led fellow detainees in creating disturbances.

“It has been determined that the detainee poses a high risk, as he is likely to pose a threat to the U.S., its interests and allies,” Hood wrote.

In his own testimony before a military tribunal in 2006, Al Sharbi, who goes by several alias including Abdullah al Muslim, Abu Muslim, Ghassan Abdallah Ghazi al Shirbi and Abdullah al Sharbi, said he must “defend the Islamic nation.”

“I came here to tell you I did what I did and I’m willing to pay the price,” he said, according to a Reuters pool reporter. “Even if I spend hundreds of years in jail, that would be a matter of honor to me.

“I fought the United States; I’m going to make it short and easy for you guys: I’m proud of what I did.”

The Obama administration has pledged to close Guantanamo Bay’s detention camp and release, return to their country of origin or place the remaining detainees in facilities on U.S. soil. His proposal continues to garner opposition from military leaders and Republicans, who say releasing some of America’s most dangerous enemies will lead to more American lives lost.

AmeriCorps: Broke the Rules with ‘abortion doulas’

Posted on April 25, 2016April 25, 2016 by Denise Simon

AmeriCorps’ abortion escorts broke federal rules

TheHill: Several members of the national service program AmeriCorps recently escorted young pregnant women to abortion clinics in a “direct violation” of federal funding rules, a government watchdog will report Tuesday.

The volunteers served as clinic escorts, also known as “abortion doulas,” in parts of New York City, according to a source familiar with the report from a federal inspector general’s office. A summary of the report will be published online Tuesday.

In their roles, such volunteers provide emotional support to women seeking abortions, as well as transportation to and from the clinics if needed. That service is prohibited under the language of federal grants that helps fund the program, the source said.

The violation took place among “a few volunteer members” at one of the 38 community health centers that works with AmeriCorps’s health branch, according to a statement from the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), which oversees AmeriCorps’ health volunteers.

Dave Taylor, chief operating officer of NACHC, said in a statement to The Hill that the group’s leadership “self-reported the issue to the proper authorities” immediately after learning about the potential violations.

“We take this matter seriously,” Taylor said, adding that the NACHC has cooperated with the White House’s community service office and the watchdog group throughout the investigation. He declined to provide any details about the investigation, but said his organization had received a copy of the full report.

The group said its response to the investigation has been far-reaching. Taylor said it quickly took steps to stop the program, while also requiring program staff to be retrained on “all relevant rules and regulations related to AmeriCorps prohibited activities.”

“We moved immediately to cease the activity in question, and suspended the identified site’s AmeriCorps members for a period until they and their site supervisors were retrained and revised member service contracts were reviewed and signed,” Taylor wrote in a statement.

The group also revised the contracts of 500 other partners “to prevent future misinterpretations.”

AmeriCorps is a federally funded community service program with about 80,000 volunteers nationally. The program is managed by the White House Corporation for National and Community Service, which received about $1.1 billion in federal funds last year.

**** In 2009, AllGov: Abortion Referral Prohibited for AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps became the center of media attention when the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act passed, tripling AmeriCorps’ size and allotting $5.7 billion in federal funding for the community service programs it provides. Few news sources noticed one controversial stipulation that was added to the bill: the prohibition of several activities, among them, abortion referral.

Beginning on October 1, AmeriCorps’ staff and members will be prohibited from “providing abortion services or referrals for receipt of such services.” In the past, AmeriCorps members have joined with clinics that offer abortion services and partnered with Planned Parenthood chapters to work on public health education topics. The new stipulation will allow members to volunteer or provide their services on their own time, but not while affiliated with AmeriCorps, itself.

Also included in the list of prohibited activities: engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes; assisting, promoting, or deterring union organization; engaging in religious instruction and conducting worship services.

State Dept Briefing, No Boots, 250 Boots, But But But

Posted on April 25, 2016April 25, 2016 by Denise Simon

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2016 — Up to 250 additional U.S. personnel are being deployed to Syria to support local forces on the ground and build on successes of U.S. forces already deployed there in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Pentagon’s press secretary said today.

The additional personnel include special operations forces and medical and logistics personnel, Peter Cook told reporters at the Pentagon. The forces are to build on the gains of 50 previously deployed special operators in Syria, he said.

During a speech in Germany today, President Barack Obama announced the deployment of the additional forces. He said the expertise of the special operations forces already on the ground in Syria has been critical as local forces drive ISIL out of key areas.

Okay, so you now there is a major divide in the message, hence words matter, check out this exchange today between the media and the State Department spokesperson, John Kirby. Advance the video to the 25:00 minute mark and it ends about the 28:00 minute mark.

In 2015, when Obama deployed 50 special forces to Syria, the War Powers Act and authority began yet another huge debate in Congress.

Let us go back to 2015 shall we?

16 times Obama said there would be no boots on the ground in Syria

WASHINGTON — Since 2013, President Obama has repeatedly vowed that there would be no “boots on the ground” in Syria.

But White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the president’s decision Friday to send up to 50 special forces troops to Syria doesn’t change the fundamental strategy: “This is an important thing for the American people to understand. These forces do not have a combat mission.”

Earnest said the promises of “no boots on the ground” first came in the context of removing Syrian President Bashar Assad because of his use of chemical weapons. Since then, Syria has become a haven for Islamic State fighters.

Here’s a recap of Obama’s no-boots pledge:

Remarks before meeting with Baltic State leaders, Aug. 30, 2013

“In no event are we considering any kind of military action that would involve boots on the ground, that would involve a long-term campaign. But we are looking at the possibility of a limited, narrow act that would help make sure that not only Syria, but others around the world, understand that the international community cares about maintaining this chemical weapons ban and norm. So again, I repeat, we’re not considering any open-ended commitment. We’re not considering any boots-on-the-ground approach.”

Remarks in the Rose Garden, Aug. 31, 2013

“After careful deliberation, I have decided that the United States should take military action against Syrian regime targets. This would not be an open-ended intervention. We would not put boots on the ground. Instead, our action would be designed to be limited in duration and scope.”

Statement before meeting with congressional leaders, Sept. 3, 2013

“So the key point that I want to emphasize to the American people: The military plan that has been developed by our Joint Chiefs — and that I believe is appropriate — is proportional. It is limited. It does not involve boots on the ground. This is not Iraq, and this is not Afghanistan.”

News conference in Stockholm, Sweden, Sept. 4, 2013

“I think America recognizes that, as difficult as it is to take any military action — even one as limited as we’re talking about, even one without boots on the ground — that’s a sober decision.”

News conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 6, 2013

“The question for the American people is, is that responsibility that we’ll be willing to bear? And I believe that when you have a limited, proportional strike like this — not Iraq, not putting boots on the ground; not some long, drawn-out affair; not without any risks, but with manageable risks — that we should be willing to bear that responsibility.”

Heck read the rest from USAToday.

In 2013, the White House sent a letter to the Congress on his power with regard to Syria, but it did not mention boots on the ground but rather strikes, meaning by manned and or unmanned aircraft.

Letter from the President — War Powers Resolution Regarding Syria

TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AND THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE

September 23, 2014

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)

As I have repeatedly reported to the Congress, U.S. Armed Forces continue to conduct operations in a variety of locations against al-Qa’ida and associated forces. In furtherance of these U.S. counterterrorism efforts, on September 22, 2014, at my direction, U.S. military forces began a series of strikes in Syria against elements of al-Qa’ida known as the Khorasan Group. These strikes are necessary to defend the United States and our partners and allies against the threat posed by these elements.

I have directed these actions, which are in the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, pursuant to my constitutional and statutory authority as Commander in Chief (including the authority to carry out Public Law 107-40) and as Chief Executive, as well as my constitutional and statutory authority to conduct the foreign relations of the United States. I am providing this report as part of my efforts to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148). I appreciate the support of the Congress in this action.

Sincerely,

BARACK OBAMA