Tag: Report

Citing “confidential financial records” it obtained, the Times reported that Kushner, 37, a senior White House adviser, for years minimized his tax bills by booking heavy losses on reported depreciation of his real estate holdings that overwhelmed his reported income. The Times noted that nothing in the documents indicate that Kushner or his company broke the law. In a 2015 example, Kushner booked $8.3 million in losses driven by “significant depreciation” of real estate owned by Kushner and his company. The loss offset Kushner’s income of $1.7 million in salary and investment gains, the Times reported, citing the documents. More than a dozen tax accountants and lawyers reviewed the records for the Times. One told the paper that the records indicated that Kushner paid little or no federal income taxes in five of the last eight years. The documents reviewed by the newspaper describe Kushner’s business dealings and finances from 2009 to 2016, according to the paper. They were drafted with Kushner’s participation as part of a review of his finances by a prospective lender and contain information from his federal tax filings in addition to other data provided by advisers, according to the report. The records were given to the paper by “a person who has had financial dealings with Kushner and his family,” it said. He said, without offering proof, that the documents were obtained in violation of the law and business confidentiality agreements.

Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, likely paid little or no federal income taxes between 2009 and 2016, the New York Times reported on Saturday, citing confidential financial documents. The Times said that Kushner’s tax bills reflected the use of a tax benefit known as depreciation that lets real estate investors deduct part of the cost of their properties from their taxable income. The Times report said nothing in the documents reviewed “suggests Mr Kushner or his company broke the law”. He added: “Always following the advice of numerous attorneys and accountants, Mr Kushner properly filed and paid all taxes due under the law and regulations.” The records reviewed by the New York Times did not expressly state how much Kushner paid in taxes, but included estimates for how much he owed called “income taxes payable” and how much Kushner paid in expectation of forecasted taxes known as “prepaid taxes”. Kushner sold his interests in the company to a family trust last year. The White House and Kushner Companies did not immediately comment on Saturday. The newspaper noted that the 2017 tax rewrite signed by Trump includes provisions that benefit real estate investors. In December, a group of Democratic lawmakers wrote to Kushner, asking whether in his talks with foreign officials he had ever discussed financing for a deeply indebted property in midtown Manhattan, citing concern he was using his position for financial gain. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner made over $82m outside White House roles Read more Kushner Companies said previously it had more than $2.5bn in transactions 2017 and has 12m sq ft under development in New York and New Jersey. Documents released by the White House in June showed Kushner held assets worth at least $181m, the Associated Press reported.

From training to thorough investigations and prioritizing diversity, the panel of democratic women called the recommendations in the report a blueprint to change the culture in state politics. Last October, political fundraiser Katelynd Duncan was one of six women who penned an open letter detailing widespread sexual harassment. “It really crushes your spirit,” said Duncan. “It made me feel like I wasn’t taken seriously or respected for the work I was doing.” Within days, scores of people signed on to the letter sending shockwaves throughout the state. Duncan raised money for the Illinois Anti-Harassment, Equality and Access Panel (AHEA) which formed earlier this year. The panel’s report does not propose legislative changes, but has a series of recommendations for state parties, political leaders and campaigns including: Adopt clear and non-negotiable policies that go beyond the law Provide anti-harassment training to everyone involved in campaigns Tie party funding and resources to campaigns adopting policies and participating in training Provide multiple discrete avenues for reporting misconduct Establish an independent body to receive and investigate complaints Commit to a concrete goal of women filling 50% of the seats in the Illinois General Assembly Illinois Democratic Party Chairman Michael Madigan, who has admitted he did not do enough to address sexual harassment, released a statement Wednesday saying a number of the panel’s recommendations are now in place in the party. “Additional steps to curb unacceptable behavior and make our party a welcoming place for all will continue to be considered and implemented going forward,” Madigan said. “I think training is critical, accountability is critical and we need male leaders to step up and have conversations with each other and do work peer to peer inside our community,” co-founder and executive director of Men4Choice Oren Jacobson said. The panel members said they are willing to meet with party leaders to give feedback and guidance on next steps. “We are glad this important issue is getting the attention it deserves.” Read the full report below:

In February of 2018, State Senator Melinda Bush, State Representative Carol Ammons and State Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza formed the Anti-Harassment, Equality and Access (AHEA) Panel. The group spent the past half year collecting surveys, consulting with experts and touring the state of Illinois to hold listening sessions with hundreds of women working in politics. The 36 page document, which aims to serve as a roadmap for all political campaigns, provides specific anti-harassment training procedures, workplace culture expectations and detailed recommendations for promoting women into leadership positions. Specific examples include the “one ask rule,” which allows for peers to ask out colleagues one time and one time only, the suggestion that campaigns should monitor alcohol consumption of its team members and the recommendation that state parties establish an independent body, separate from party leadership, to receive all complaints of misconduct. We need to change it, by being unabashedly intentional about promoting women into leadership positions throughout politics and electing more women to office who will be establishing the new rules," explains Illinois Comptroller, Susana A. Mendoza. In my experiences, in the General Assembly, I have seen men from both sides of the aisle conduct themselves in an inappropriate manner and I’ve seen victims from both sides of the aisle. The report maintains that in order to see more women with a seat at the table, political leaders must change the way they call on women to want to be there in the first place. "We hope to see the report turned into policy for political campaigns. This report should be a roadmap for best practices to change a culture that has for too long subjected women to unacceptable treatment. I also hope this report serves as a catalyst for women to own their own power, stand in their own space and know when they report sexual harassment it's taken with the seriousness it always should have been treated with.

The migration advisory committee report is a major antidote to dog-whistle politics, bringing much-needed facts about the impact of immigration into the national conversation. Brexit should end EU citizens' special access to UK, says report Read more But it recommends no preferential treatment for EU citizens after Brexit and retaining a salary threshold of £30,000 for migrants – which will alarm those in manufacturing, logistics and social care, where there is a high reliance on EU workers. Favour higher-skilled workers over lower-skilled workers post-Brexit. No special scheme for low-skilled workers, with the exception of agricultural workers. There is some evidence that it does in lower-skilled areas, but the impact is small. There is little or no impact on employment, wages or training. House prices Migration has increased house prices, mostly in areas with a squeeze on supply owing to restrictive planning where councils find it harder to increase stock in line with demand. Benefits Migrants pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits. Provision of public services Insufficient attention is being paid to the flow of public money to areas with increased demand for education and medical services. Low-skilled workers There is no need for special schemes outside farming.

Former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz is planning to set up his own political party rather than joining the opposition Zionist Union or Yesh Atid movements, according to a television news report on Wednesday. Reports in June in the Hebrew-language press said Gantz was exploring the option of joining the Zionist Union party as its candidate for prime minister. But according to the Hadashot report, Gantz was expected to form his own party. Both Netanyahu’s office and sources close to Gantz denied that report. Gantz’s entry into politics could have dramatic repercussions, according to multiple polls over the past few months. Speculation has swirled about Gantz’s political ambitions as he reaches the end of the mandatory three-year “cooling-off” period for senior IDF officers to enter politics. Conversely, a July poll in Yedioth found that if he decided instead to launch his own party, he would divide support on the left and all but shatter those chances. According to the July poll, Gantz would draw some 24 Knesset seats if he ran at the top of the Zionist Union list, second only to the ruling Likud party at 30. If he founded a new party, it would crush the Zionist Union, taking 14 seats, in third place after Likud’s 29 and Yesh Atid’s 15, while a Gabbay-led Zionist Union would collapse to fourth with 10. Gantz, 58, who served as the military’s chief of staff from February 2011 until February 2015, commanded the 2014 war in Gaza.

Harvard University’s decision to hire Elizabeth Warren as a law professor in the 1990s was not based on any assertion that she has Native American heritage, according to a report by the Boston Globe. Elizabeth Warren seeks to use Trump Pocahontas 'racial slur' as political tool Read more Warren is now a US senator from Massachusetts and a possible liberal contender for the Democratic presidential nomination. Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to Warren as “Pocahontas”, mocking her claims of heritage. The Globe reported that interviews and documents show the issue was not considered by Harvard Law faculty or those who admitted Warren to law school at Rutgers or to jobs at the University of Houston, the University of Texas and the University of Pennsylvania. “It was just not an issue. I can’t remember anybody ever mentioning her in this context.” The Globe reported that it examined hundreds of documents, many never before available, and talked to 31 law school professors from that period at Harvard. One said he was unsure if the issue came up, but if it did, it had no bearing on his vote. On Sunday, Warren posted to her website documents related to her job and school applications and again asserted that her heritage played no role in her career advancement. “My family is my family,” she told the Globe. She has repeatedly said she is not running for president in 2020, but continues to position herself as a national leader in the Democratic party.

In a private meeting with Christian ministers, Donald Trump warned of “violence” if Republicans do not maintain control of Congress in the midterm elections, according to an audio recording of the meeting obtained by the New York Times. “You’re one election away from losing everything you’ve got,” Trump reportedly told them. If Republicans lose Congress, “they will end everything immediately”, the president said, seemingly referring to Congressional Democrats. And violently. There’s violence. When you look at antifa, and you look at some of these groups, these are violent people.” The Times reported that these additional remarks did not make clear “whom he was talking about”. The ad’s incendiary rhetoric was sharply criticized, with one critic calling it “a whisper shy of a call for full civil war”. Anti-fascist protesters argue that the best way to prevent American neo-Nazis from growing more powerful is to make them afraid to meet or demonstrate in public. Many of the rightwing groups that “antifa” demonstrators show up to protest are self-described fascists. During the violent neo-Nazi rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia, last August, white supremacists attacked black residents and protesting local ministers, and clashed with anti-fascist protesters in the streets.

“The president and Don have a great relationship,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement on Saturday. Trump subsequently tweeted his own response to the report, writing: “I allowed White House counsel Don McGahn, and all other requested members of the White House staff, to fully cooperate with the special councel [sic]. In addition we readily gave over one million pages of documents. Most transparent in history. McGahn cooperated with Robert Mueller’s team as a regular witness, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the White House asked many staffers to do. The person also said he did not believe McGahn provided Mueller with incriminating information about Trump. McGahn provided the facts but nothing he saw or heard amounted to obstruction of justice by Trump, the person told Reuters. The newspaper reported McGahn’s motivation to speak with the special counsel as an unusual move in response to a decision by Trump’s first team of lawyers to cooperate fully. But it also said McGhan feared he could be placed in legal jeopardy because of decisions in the White House that could be construed as obstruction of justice. Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, declined to comment.

Prosecutors say a man accused of abusing children at a New Mexico compound linked to 'extremist Muslims' was training them to carry out school shootings. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news…