From the midweek Morning Jolt:
The Clintons’ Mysterious, Secret Shell Corporation
Oh, hey, look, what we used to call a “shell company.”
The newly released financial files on Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s growing fortune omit a company with no apparent employees or assets that the former president has legally used to provide consulting and other services, but which demonstrates the complexity of the family’s finances.
Because the company, WJC, LLC, has no financial assets, Hillary Clinton’s campaign was not obligated to report its existence in her recent financial disclosure report, officials with Bill Clinton’s private office and the Clinton campaign said. They were responding to questions by The Associated Press, which reviewed corporate documents.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide private details of the former president’s finances on the record, said the entity was a “pass-through” company designed to channel payments to the former president.
Gabriel Malor contemplates the sorts of questions that the press would ask Hillary, if the queen ever lowered herself to taking questions from the rabble:
“Secretary Clinton, did you get tax advantages from your use of a shell corporation?”
“Secretary Clinton, were the payments made through your shell corporation from foreign governments? What about during your time at State?”
“Sec. Clinton, were you or your husband getting paid by foreign nationals through this shell corporation while you were secretary of state?”
He concludes, “By definition, the Clintons’ shell corporation must be ignored for the greater good. That’s always the progressives’ bottom line.”
Remember, three years ago, being secretive about your wealth was considered ipso facto evidence that you were a tax cheat. Here’s Vanity Fair, back in August 2012:
Romney, with an estimated net worth as high as $250 million (he won’t reveal the exact amount), will be one of the richest people ever to be nominated for president. Given his reticence to discuss his wealth, it’s only natural to wonder how he got it, how he invests it, and if he pays all his taxes on it.
Even if WJC LLC is perfectly legal, any maneuvering for tax advantage should be thrown in the face of a candidate who declares, “the rich are not paying their fair share” and “there are rich people everywhere, and yet they do not contribute to the growth of their own countries.”