Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education, has spent countless hours working with lawyers to get the tax status of our organization established, one that is charitable (c3) and one that is political (c4). She knows the laws, and they are exacting.
When she heard Betsy DeVos tell the Senate committee that she was not on the board of her mother’s foundation and that the listing of her name on the foundation documents was “a clerical error,” Burris was incredulous.
She wrote this comment:
“Betsy DeVos statement that it was “a clerical error” that she was listed as a Vice President of the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation is not plausible. The 990PF forms of the Foundation from 1998 (the earliest year on Guidestar) until the latest filing which is 2014, list Elizabeth DeVos as a Vice President. The family foundation is a “pass through” fund that makes donations to extremely conservative and religious causes.
“The assets of the Foundation total over 27 million dollars.
“According to Michigan law, any Foundation, including private foundations, must undergo an independent financial audit during any year that the foundation receives in excess of $500,000 in contributions. In 2012, the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation received nearly $19 million in contributions. Therefore the Foundation would have been subject to an extensive audit that year.
“Part of the audit includes the review of all Board member names, and contact information. All information about board officers must be provided. If her name has been “inadvertently listed” by error for fourteen years it would have been discovered in the independent audit. Yet she is listed on the 990PFs for both 2013 and 2014.”
You can read the audited tax forms of the foundation on the website of NPE Action, where they are posted. The forms list the officers, the assets, and the amounts paid to various causes.
She didn’t tell the truth to the Senate committee.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The feeling I get more and more is that if you are wealthy, you can blatantly lie, conduct fraudulent, criminal and unethical behavior and activity for your own personal gain and admit it freely with the only consequence being to reward you and elevate you to the highest offices in this country. And what’s more, if you are skilled at telling people what they want to hear, playing on their fears, hatred and bias, with no plan whatsoever, you will surely succeed. 😦 The swamp grows larger and larger.
The Great Moral Divide
Bill Clinton: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman…”
Result = impeachment
Betsy DeVos: To the Senate committee that she was not on the board of her mother’s foundation and that the listing of her name on the foundation documents was “a clerical error…”
Result = Elevation to control public education for millions of public school children, of public parents, to destroy a vital public institution?
Red flags should be rising from the entire hearing!
To the Senators charged with the decision…America is watching you.
Mortgaging the future of our children and our public schools is “not for sale”
Buyer Beware!
Why would I be surprised at this? She has no business being considered for this position!
Frankly, I can imagine that her name is on all sorts of family documents that she is unaware of. The more important question is whether she supported the objectives of the foundation…. or, if not, why has she not publicly expressed her disagreement. I think it is quite clear, though, that DeVos supported what the foundation was trying to do.
So what’s new? All politicians lie, it’s number one in the job description. Their motto is if you can’t get them with the facts, dazzle them with BS.
“All politicians lie”: I’m really sick and tired of that old line. If they do lie and continue to get away with it, then the fault lies with lazy citizens who stand by and do nothing and resort to meaningless platitudes to
impotently absolve themselves from any blame. Time to buck up and take responsibility.
I never said I agree with it. And you can be tired of what I said, but it’s true. I vote against every politician that does. And with the case of this POS devos, she’s freaking appointed and this questioning is pure show and they’re going to put her in charge of education. The system is corrupt.
I was a bit harsh, probably given my foul mood today. I guess the point I was trying to make in an inelegant way was “All people lie.” When we think politicians are different than people, we make a grave error. I’ve known very honorable politicians and very corrupt people. And I’ve known some corrupt politicians and honorable people. Virtually all of us fall somewhere in between. The decisions we make are, in my view, ultimately up to us. And that’s why I believe in good teachers. They help us along the way more than most.
Plagiarism by one nominee… No employment taxes paid by another… Offshore tax havens… Contacts with Russians… Now this: lying about a board position. It’s practically a minor offense in comparison!
But it’s not really minor. It’s a big deal, definitely warranting an investigation and possibly a charge of lying under oath or filing false records. Almost certainly there’s a paper trail, such as board minutes, showing Ms. DeVos’ role in the foundation. If her ethics filing were complete, it may also show a VP stipend.
When all that comes out, and I hope it does, it will be hard for Ms. DeVos to take the position of, “oh, I guess I forgot”. It will be clear she didn’t tell the truth out load to the committee or in a tax/ethics filing. But why? What’s the point of trying to cover up her role? Who knows. But it means she’s not just inexperienced and unqualified for a secretary of education job, she lacks moral principles.
The paper trail is there in the link to the independently audited tax forms of the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation. Betsy was vice-president for years. She told the Senate committee she was not on the board.
The reason she lied was because her mother supports anti-gay organizations and Betsy didn’t want to admit that she was part of it
Thanks, Diane, for the additional details (and sorry for missing them). Now I understand her motive. Very dark. And very hypocritical. Her Christian moralizing is apparently not strong enough to withstand political pressure. Great reason, as always, to keep religion out of government. Ultimately it’s about power and control, not doing the right thing.
P.S. My remark above should not be taken as anti-Christian. There are a great many Christians with laudable views about social justice and inclusion. Ms. DeVos’ strain of Christianity is really unsettling. It must not be imposed on Americans through the heavy hand of government. Our nation’s founders would have tearful eyes, and so, I dare say, would Jesus himself.
No one has mentioned that the Christian pastors chosen to lead the benedictions before and after the inauguration clearly did so by repeatedly calling on Christ their Savior None made any effort to use inclusive langurge that put all Americans on the same footing (with the exception of Marvin Heir). They made sure that the message was that America, to them, I strictly and only a Christian nation.
DeVos (who supports the bigots and charlatans of Focus on the Family) and all other radical religious idealogues, so far, join with all the shady characters in this nightmare scenario, and they have won the day. Let’s seen which Americans step up to preserve the First Amendment for everyone.
Oh, Diane, you know rules don’t apply to wealthy people in this country. They strut around crowing about “accountability” but she wasn’t even held accountable for preparing for this hearing,
Meanwhile, here’s the new ed reform line on public schools:
..An education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge.”
As if this person can lecture anyone on “knowledge”
They’re absolutely insufferable. Donald Trump wouldn’t know a US public school if he fell over one. When’s the last time any of these people have ENTERED one?
Get ready for 4 years of stern lectures from the self-proclaimed “Best and Brightest”
There isn’t a shred of humility in this bunch.
The Littlefingers Donald Trump White House will go down in history (what’s written in a century or so after the pendulum of misinformation swings the other way to facts/truth, hopefully) as a gang-of-liars with the Groping Liar-in-Chief as the leading, Tweeting roll model.
Betsy lied? Of course she lied. But a lie is not really a lie in politics is it? The greater good and all that jazz. . Betsy and Goldman Sachs, doing Gods work, all for our benefit, the little people.
We all really do owe The Donald a big think you for his generosity, his humility, his leadership, his forethought, no?
I presume DeVos won’t work the number of hours a week that labor does. She will treat her new position like a hobby. The “work” photo that she provided showed her musing over carpet samples. People who belong to 7 yachting and country clubs, have to have time for boating, golfing and shopping.
I watched her confirmation hearing. I watched her take an oath to tell the truth. I watched her lie. If she lies to congress under oath then she needs to be investigated for purjury. If she is guilty of perjury then that is a felony. Why is this not on the front of every newspaper in our country?
Headlines: “DeVos accused of allegedly lying under oath!”
further to the point of Democrats and “progressives” playing footsie with people like DeVos all these years and now Heaven Forfend, OMG this is so baaaaaaad:
http://wapo.st/2jjq0Vq
Democrats reject her, but they helped pave the road to education nominee DeVos
By Valerie Strauss January 21 at 11:11 AM