November 7, 2017


News and Views


TRUMP SAYS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY LINE. NOT ONLY ARE SO MANY OF THEM DISHONEST, THEY ARE UNIMAGINATIVE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-texas-church-shooting-hundreds-more-dead-stricter-gun-laws/
CBS/AP November 7, 2017, 5:55 AM
Trump: Stricter gun laws could've meant "hundreds more dead" in Texas

SEOUL -- President Donald Trump said Tuesday that stricter gun control measures might have led to "hundreds" of additional casualties during a mass shooting at a south Texas church.

Mr. Trump says at a news conference in South Korea that, "If you did what you're suggesting, there would have been no difference three days ago and you might not have had that very brave person who happens to have a gun or a rifle in his trunk."

He'd been asked whether he would support "extreme vetting" for gun purchases like he's called for for people entering the country.

Are Americans become numb to mass shootings?

Mr. Trump said if local resident Stephen Willeford -- who grabbed his own rifle and exchanged fire with Kelley -- didn't have a gun, "instead of having 26 dead, you would have had hundreds more dead."

"So that's the way I feel about it," Mr Trump said, reiterating his stance that any hypothetical new gun control legislation is "not going to help."

Before giving his answer, President Trump said it was still "too soon" after the tragedy to be discussing measures to prevent mass shootings.

Congress and the battle over guns

Mr. Trump has said since he was on the campaign trail in 2016 that he believes the way to prevent mass shootings in the U.S. is by better addressing mental health issues.

On Monday, Mr. Trump said the Texas massacre was a "mental health problem," not a "guns situation."

Authorities say Devin Patrick Kelley fired at least 450 rounds of ammunition at worshippers in Sunday's attack at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs. The dead ranged in age from 18 months to 77 years old.

The gunman who killed 26 people at a small town Texas church was able to buy weapons because the Air Force did not submit his criminal history to the FBI as required by military rules.

The Air Force acknowledged Monday that if the past offenses by Devin Patrick Kelley had been properly shared, they would have prevented him from buying a gun.

In 2014, Kelley was formally ousted from the Air Force for a 2012 assault on his ex-wife in which he choked her and struck her son hard enough to fracture his skull.

How heavily armed is your state?
How heavily armed is your state?

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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I THINK FOUR OR FIVE CRACKED RIBS IS A SERIOUS INJURY. THEY PROTECT THE LUNGS AND HEART. AND WHAT DID THIS MAN DO – COME UP BEHIND HIM AND GIVE HIM A HUGE BEAR HUG? THERE ARE MANY PIECES OF INFORMATION THAT ARE BEING WITHHELD IN THIS ARTICLE. TANTALIZING....

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rand-paul-neighbors-feud-rene-boucher-motive/
CBS NEWS November 7, 2017, 7:17 AM
Dispute over yard waste to blame for Sen. Rand Paul's assault?

Police say the man accused of attacking Sen. Rand Paul could be charged with a felony because of the senator's condition. The Kentucky lawmaker's neighbor, Rene Boucher, is currently charged with fourth-degree assault.

The 59-year-old is accused of tackling the senator from behind while he was outside his home on Friday. The fight between two neighbors, both doctors, set off a round of newsroom speculation about what the motive could possibly be, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds. What we've learned so far is that the tussle may have been about landscaping.

Kentucky State Police Master Trooper Jeremy Hodges said Sen. Paul's long-time neighbor, Rene Boucher, was initially charged with misdemeanor assault before Paul was medically evaluated. Paul's office later said he suffered five broken ribs from the attack.

"If it is found there was a serious physical injury that occurred, then the original assault charge, which was a misdemeanor, can be bumped up to the felonious charge of assault in the second degree," Hodges said.

img-1316.jpg
Rene Boucher, pictured WARREN COUNTY REGIONAL JAIL

The arrest warrant for Boucher said Paul suffered "small cuts to the nose and mouth area, and had trouble breathing."

Neighbors reportedly said the two men have a long-running dispute over yard waste.

Boucher admitted to going onto Paul's property and tackling him while Paul was reportedly mowing his lawn.

Matt Baker, Boucher's attorney, said his client is remorseful and the attack was not politically motivated.

"Politics has nothing to do with this. Zero," Baker said.

Paul's injuries could postpone his return to Washington, making it tough for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who is working to round up enough votes to pass tax reform.

Boucher's attorney told CBS News his client spent Friday night in jail and was released Saturday on a $7,500 bond. He said he will enter a not guilty plea at his court appearance Thursday.

The year's most shocking crimes
59 Photos
The year's most shocking crimes

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



EVER MORE INCREASINGLY SAD SHOOTER STORIES


A DANGER TO HIMSELF AND OTHERS – YOU BET HE WAS! WHY ARE INSTITUTIONS SO SLOW TO PICK UP ON THINGS LIKE THIS? BEFORE HE TRIED TO SNEAK WEAPONS ONTO THE BASE, HE HAD BEATEN UP HIS WIFE AND HER BABY SON ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS. MAYHEM SHOULDN’T BE NECESSARY TO PROVE DANGER, AND THEN HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN OFF THE STREET. NOTE ALSO, THAT HIS FINGERPRINTS WERE NOT EVEN IN THE AIR FORCE’S (OR MERELY THE LOCAL OFFICE’S?) DATABASE. THERE ARE AT LEAST 4 SERIOUS INFORMATION LAPSES IN THE STORIES I HAVE SEEN SO FAR FROM ARTICLE TO ARTICLE.

FOR INSTANCE, WHEN HE BROKE OUT OF THE MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT CENTER WHERE HE HAD BEEN PLACED, THE ARTICLE DOESN’T SAY HOW THEY CAUGHT HIM, WHEN AND WHERE THEY PUT HIM AFTER THAT. STILL, IT WAS ONLY 2014 WHEN HE WAS FINALLY COURT MARTIALED. MAYBE HE WAS IN DETENTION DURING THAT TIME. HE SHOULD HAVE GONE RIGHT BACK INTO THE HOSPITAL WITH A PROPER DIAGNOSIS AND MEDS. I THINK SCHIZOPHRENIA CAN BE DIAGNOSED BY EXAMINING THE BRAIN, FOR INSTANCE. TOO OFTEN “BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS” ARE ASSUMED TO BE “MERELY CRIMINAL” RATHER THAN SOME FORM OF INSANITY. I'M COMING TO BELIEVE THAT IT SIMPLY ISN'T AS UNCOMMON AS WE USED TO BELIEVE; AND ON TOP OF THAT, PEOPLE DON'T "LOOK WEIRD" AS WE THINK THEY SHOULD. THEY LOOK JUST LIKE THE REST OF US. THAT’S WHAT SCARES ME MOST.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/air-force-secretary-says-texas-shooter-was-a-serious-problem-in-the-air-force/
By KATHRYN WATSON CBS NEWS November 7, 2017, 5:10 PM
Air Force secretary says Texas shooter was a "serious problem" in the Air Force

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson says Texas gunman Devin Kelley was "clearly a serious problem" in the Air Force, evident from the fact that he was court-martialed for assaulting his then-wife and small stepson.

Wilson, in a Tuesday interview with CBSN, would not directly say whether the Air Force suspected Kelley posed a threat to others in his time with the service. Kelley, who joined the Air Force after graduating high school in 2009, was court-martialed in 2012 and convicted for assaulting his then-wife and his stepson. He was confined for a year, and given a bad conduct discharge. On Sunday, Kelley entered First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and gunned down dozens of worshipers, killing 26 people as young as 18 months old.

"I've got to be a bit careful about the records I've seen," Wilson told CBSN.

But Wilson did acknowledge Kelley was "clearly a serious problem in the Air Force," mentioning his assault conviction.

An office within the Air Force failed to place Kelley's conviction in a federal database, which would have shown up in his background check and likely prevented him from legally purchasing firearms. Asked how the Air Force let that fall through the cracks, Wilson pointed to the review the Pentagon's inspector general is conducting.

"Well, that's why we have initiated the review of this case and all others like it, is to find out those facts," Wilson told CBSN.

Wilson said it's "pretty clear that the check list we use was not followed by the local office" in New Mexico, and his fingerprints "should have been" in the database, when they were not.

The Air Force is under fire for its failure to properly report Kelley's assault conviction, with members of Congress and the public questioning how Kelley's conviction went unnoticed in federal records, and whether such reporting failures are systemic. On Tuesday, an exasperated Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, wondered aloud how Kelley slipped through the cracks of the system.

"This speaks to making sure we actually enforce our laws that we have on the books," Ryan said.

On the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, Sen, Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, said the Air Force's failure was indirectly, if not directly, responsible for allowing Kelley to obtain firearms.

"The Air Force's lapse is shocking and inexcusable," Blumenthal said.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


THERE WAS A LARGER NUMBER OF KELLEY'S VIOLENT INCIDENTS AND INTENTIONS (SUCH AS THREATENING TO KILL MEMBERS OF HIS MILITARY CHAIN OF COMMAND) THAN THE STORIES TOLD A FEW DAYS AGO. IT LOOKS PARTLY AS IF SOME PEOPLE KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT HIM AND SOME OTHERS NEW OTHER THINGS, BUT THEY DIDN'T PUT IT ALL TOGETHER UNTIL AFTER THE KILLING, AND PARTICULARLY AFTER THE AIR FORCE LAPSES IN THEIR DUTY CAME TO LIGHT. I DO WONDER HOW MANY OTHER SIMILAR CASES HAVE BEEN HANDLED SO SLOPPILY THAT THERE IS A DISASTROUS RESULT FROM IT LIKE THIS SITUATION. THE MATTER OF HIS SMUGGLING GUNS INTO THE BASE IS YET ANOTHER VERY DISTURBING THING.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-church-shooter-devin-kelley-escaped-mental-health-facility-after-attacking-wife-stepson/
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS NEWS November 7, 2017, 2:11 PM
Texas church shooter escaped mental health facility after attacking wife, stepson

The man who shot and killed 26 people in a Texas church Sunday was checked into and escaped from a mental health facility in New Mexico in 2012, according to a police report obtained by CBS affiliate KHOU-TV.

Devin Patrick Kelley: What we know about the Texas church shooting suspect

Devin Kelley was sent to the Peak Behavioral Health Services Center in Santa Teresa, New Mexico after multiple incidents in which he beat his wife and stepson, who suffered a fractured skull in one attack, while Kelley was stationed at Holloman Air Force Base. But on June 13, 2012, Kelley escaped from the center, fleeing to El Paso, Texas, according to the report.

Police warned that Kelley "was a danger to himself and others as he had already been caught sneaking firearms" onto the base, where he "was attempting to carry out death threats that (he) had made on his military chain of command."

El Paso police arrested Kelley without incident at a bus stop and turned him over to New Mexico police. The report notes he did not make any threatening statements during his arrest.

Texas church shooting victims: Pregnant mother, children among lives lost

Kelley served a year in confinement for the assaults on his wife and stepson, and in 2014 received a bad conduct discharge from the Air Force, which was supposed to notify the FBI of his domestic violence conviction. Kelley should have been barred from buying the weapons used in Sunday's shooting, according to Don Christensen, who at the time was the Air Force's top prosecutor.

The Air Force acknowledged Monday that it failed to flag Kelley as banned from buying firearms. The Air Force said it has launched a review of how the service handled Kelley's criminal records.

Texas authorities say Kelley did not have a license to carry firearms. However, Kelley purchased four weapons in total during the years 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. Two were bought in Colorado and two in Texas, ATF officials said. Three weapons were recovered at the scene of the shooting -- a Ruger AR-556 rifle found at the church, and two handguns, a Glock 9mm and a Ruger 22, found in his car, according to Fred Milanowski, special agent in charge of the ATF Houston.

Academy Sports, a Texas store where Kelley bought two weapons, confirmed in a statement to CBS News Monday that Kelley's purchases were approved by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

Deadly church shooting in Texas
Deadly church shooting in Texas

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


HAVING SEVERE AND DANGEROUS CRIMINAL OR MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES HANDLED STRICTLY WITHIN THE MILITARY SETTING IS NOT A GOOD IDEA IN MY VIEW, AND CERTAINLY NOT IN THIS CASE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-church-shooting-gun-shop-owner-who-sold-firearm-to-devin-kelley-speaks-out/
CBS NEWS November 7, 2017, 8:15 AM
Shop owner who sold gun to Texas shooter says he relies on database

CBS News Video – Air Force Error

The investigation into the Texas church shooting is raising big questions about how the gunman was able to buy his weapons. The United States Air Force made a mistake by not reporting the results of Devin Kelley's 2012 court martial. His conviction on two counts of domestic assault should have barred him from buying the rifle used in the massacre.

According to law enforcement sources, Kelley purchased a Ruger AR rifle in April of 2016 at a San Antonio gun shop. In December of 2014 – the same year he received a bad conduct discharge – Kelley bought a Glock 9-millimeter handgun at a store in Colorado Springs, reports CBS News correspondent David Martin.

"Until we have an approval, we cannot and we will not transfer a firearm to a person," said Jeff Lepp, the owner of that store.

He says he relies on the national database to screen his customers. Now, he's left wondering how the system broke down.

"You never want to sell something to somebody who's gonna commit any form of a crime, let alone a mass murder like this," Lepp said.

ctm-110717-gunshopowner.jpg
Gun store owner Jeff Lepp CBS NEWS

Air Force officials are required to enter the names of domestic abuse offenders into a national data base that would prevent them from purchasing firearms. But in Kelley's case, that did not happen.

Air Force court martial documents from 2013 show Kelley pleaded guilty to striking, choking, kicking and pulling the hair of his then wife on two separate occasions. As part of his guilty plea, five other counts of domestic violence – including pointing a loaded gun at his wife – were withdrawn.

He also pleaded guilty to striking his young stepson "on the head and body with a force likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm."

"What he was convicted of should have stopped him from getting a gun," said Col. Don Christensen (Ret.), who was formerly the Air Force's top prosecutor

He says Kelley hit his stepson so hard he fractured the boy's skull.

"He should not have had a gun because one, the maximum punishment was more than a year, and two, it involved domestic violence," Christensen said.

Kelley has had other run-ins with the law, as well. In 2014, he was cited for animal cruelty after witnesses said they saw him beating a dog with his fists. That charge was ultimately dismissed.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


THIS MAY NOT BE SIGNIFICANT BUT IT IS INTERESTING. SUPPOSE HE HAD IN THE PHONE SOMETHING LIKE CONTACTS WITH CRIMINAL
GROUPS, EVEN DOMESTIC TERRORISM. HE CERTAINLY CARRIED IT OUT LIKE A TERRORIST.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-church-shooting-authorities-analyzing-devin-kelly-cellphone/
CBS/AP November 7, 2017, 1:43 PM
Texas church shooting: Gunman's cellphone is locked

Authorities are trying to analyze the cellphone of the gunman who killed 26 people inside a small-town Texas church.

After investigators obtained the phone through a search warrant, it was flown to FBI headquarters in Stafford County, Virginia, FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Combs said in a news conference Tuesday. So far, investigators have been unable to get into the phone, Combs said.

"With the advance of technology, and the phones, and the encryption, law enforcement at the state, local or federal level is increasingly unable to get into phones," Combs said. "I'm not going to say what kind of phone it is, I'm not going to tell every bad guy what phone to buy to harass our efforts to try to find justice here."

Combs said his office would continue to work on cracking the phone and would turn it over along with other forms of digital media evidence to the Texas rangers.

One of the phones used by the killers in the San Bernardino, California, attacks was inaccessible to investigators more several months before the FBI was finally able to unlock it.

Then FBI director James Comey cited the case as an example of how encryption is affecting counterterrorism efforts. But he said the dilemma of bad guys "going dark" is mostly affecting state and local law enforcement officials who are trying to solve murder, drug and car accident cases.

In the small town of Sutherland Springs, grieving townspeople reeled from their losses. The dead ranged from 18 months to 77 years old and included multiple members of some families.

"Our church was not comprised of members or parishioners. We were a very close family," said the pastor's wife Sherri Pomeroy, who, like her husband, was out of town when the attack happened. "Now most of our church family is gone."

The couple's 14-year-old daughter, Annabelle Pomeroy, was among those killed.

Kelley's mother-in-law sometimes attended services there, but the sheriff said she was not at church Sunday.

The massacre appeared to stem from a domestic situation and was not racially or religiously motivated, Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Freeman Martin said. He did not elaborate.

Based on evidence at the scene, investigators believe Kelley died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after he was chased by Willeford and another man and crashed his car.

The 26-year-old shooter also used his cellphone to tell his father he had been shot and did not think he would survive, authorities said.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



AND HERE ARE EVEN MORE GRUESOME DETAILS FROM ANOTHER ARTICLE. I’M SORRY IT’S SO UNPLEASANT, BUT WE NEED AS A SOCIETY TO WATCH THINGS AS DANGEROUS AS THIS. FOR INSTANCE, HE WAS IN A MENTAL HOSPITAL AND BROKE OUT, THEN THE ARTICLE GAVE NO INFORMATION ON WHEN HE WAS CAPTURED; IT DOES NOT SAY THAT HE WAS PUT BACK INTO THE HOSPITAL. IS THAT ANOTHER LOOSE END?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-church-shooting-survivors-devin-patrick-kelley-shot-crying-babies/
CBS/AP November 7, 2017, 12:28 PM
Texas church shooting survivors say gunman targeted crying babies

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas -- The gunman who killed 26 people at a small-town Texas church went aisle to aisle looking for victims and shot crying babies at point-blank range, a couple who survived the attack said.

Rosanne Solis and Joaquin Ramirez were sitting near the entrance to the First Baptist Church on Sunday when they heard what sounded like firecrackers and realized someone was shooting at the tiny wood-frame building.

In an interview with San Antonio television station KSAT, Solis said congregants began screaming and dropped to the floor. She could see bullets flying into the carpet and fellow worshippers falling down, bloodied, after getting hit.

Ramirez said after entering the church, the gunman first shot those in charge of the camera and audio of the service. He then moved down the center aisle toward those on the church dais.

For a moment, the attack seemed to stop, and worshippers thought that police had arrived to confront the gunman. But then he entered the church yelling "Everybody die!" and resumed "shooting hard" at helpless families, Solis said.

The gunman checked each aisle for more victims, including babies who cried out amid the noise and smoke, Ramirez said.

The couple survived by huddling close to the ground and playing dead. Solis was shot in the arm. Ramirez was hit by shrapnel.

Farida Brown, 73, thought she was going to die when the gunman, identified by authorities as Devin Patrick Kelley, 26, made his way to her pew, her son David Brown told CBS affiliate KENS-TV.

"The shooter was making his rounds, and he ended up there and started shooting this lady multiple times," David Brown told the station. "And the lady looked at my mom the whole time, and my mom was looking at her and telling her, 'It's OK, you're going to go to heaven. You're going to go to heaven,' and then she knew it was her turn to be shot, and so she just started praying that God would take her soul to heaven."


But Kelley turned his attention to another man with a gun, David Brown said. Stephen Willeford had run out of his house near the church barefoot, shot at Kelley and forced him to flee on a high-speed chase that ended in his death.

About 20 other people were wounded. Investigators collected at least 15 empty magazines that held 30 rounds each at the scene, suggesting the assailant fired at least 450 rounds.

Kelley had a history of domestic violence that spanned years before the attack and was able buy weapons because the Air Force did not submit his criminal history to the FBI as required by military rules.

If Kelley's past offenses had been properly shared, they would have prevented him from buying a gun, the Air Force acknowledged Monday.


Investigators also revealed that Kelley had sent threatening text messages to his mother-in-law, a member of the church, before the attack, and that sheriff's deputies had responded to a domestic violence call in 2014 at his home involving a girlfriend who became his second wife.

Later that year, he was formally ousted from the Air Force for a 2012 assault on his ex-wife in which he choked her and struck her son hard enough to fracture his skull.

At a news conference in South Korea, President Trump was asked if he would support "extreme vetting" for gun purchases in the same way he has called for "extreme vetting" for people entering the country. Mr. Trump responded by saying stricter gun control measures might have led to more deaths in the shooting because Willeford would not have been armed.

"If he didn't have a gun, instead of having 26 dead, you would have had hundreds more dead," Mr. Trump said.


In the tiny town of Sutherland Springs, population 400, grieving townspeople reeled from their losses. The dead ranged from 18 months to 77 years old and included multiple members of some families.

"Our church was not comprised of members or parishioners. We were a very close family," said the pastor's wife Sherri Pomeroy, who, like her husband, was out of town when the attack happened. "Now most of our church family is gone."

The couple's 14-year-old daughter, Annabelle Pomeroy, was among those killed.

Kelley's mother-in-law sometimes attended services there, but the sheriff said she was not at church Sunday.

The massacre appeared to stem from a domestic situation and was not racially or religiously motivated, Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Freeman Martin said. He did not elaborate.

Based on evidence at the scene, investigators believe Kelley died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after he was chased by Willeford and another man and crashed his car.

The 26-year-old shooter also used his cellphone to tell his father he had been shot and did not think he would survive, authorities said.

While in the military, Kelley served in logistics readiness at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico from 2010 until his 2014 discharge, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said.

He was discharged for the assault involving his previous wife and her child and had served a year of confinement after a court-martial. Under Pentagon rules, information about convictions of military personnel for crimes such as assault should be submitted to the FBI's Criminal Justice Investigation Services Division.

Stefanek said the service is launching a review of its handling of the case and taking a comprehensive look at its databases to ensure other cases have been reported correctly.

A few months before he received the bad-conduct discharge, sheriff's deputies went to his home to check out the domestic violence complaint involving him and his then-girlfriend. People in the house said there was no problem, and no arrests were made. Kelley married the girlfriend two months later.

Also in 2014, he was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty in Colorado after a neighbor reported him for beating a dog. Kelley initially refused to speak with officers about the incident. He denied abusing the animal but complied with an order to pay almost $370 in restitution. He was also the focus of a protective order issued in Colorado in 2015.

Kelley lived in New Braunfels, about 35 miles north of the church, and had recently started a job as an unarmed security guard at a nearby resort.

Willeford had help from another local resident, Johnnie Langendorff, who said he was driving past the church as the shooting happened. The armed resident asked to get in Langendorff's truck, and the pair followed as the gunman drove away.

"He jumped in my truck and said, 'He just shot up the church. We need to go get him.' And I said 'Let's go,'" Langendorff said.

The pursuit reached speeds up to 90 mph. Willeford told Arkansas TV stations KHBS/KHOG that he kept a 911 operator advised of the situation during the chase. The gunman eventually lost control of his vehicle and crashed.

Willeford walked up to the vehicle with his gun drawn, and the attacker did not move. Police arrived about five minutes later, Langendorff said.

The assailant was dead in his vehicle. He had three gunshot wounds - two from where the armed man hit him in the leg and the torso and the third self-inflicted wound to the head, authorities said.

"There was no thinking about it. There was just doing. That was the key to all this. Act now. Ask questions later," Langendorff said.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



“IN MY OPINION, THAT MAKES THIS THE IDEAL TIME TO STOP ALLOWING DEDUCTIONS FOR SECRET SETTLEMENTS OF SEXUAL ABUSE CLAIMS FROM CORPORATE OR PERSONAL INCOME TAXES.”

I NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED THIS TO BE THE CASE, AND IT'S HORRIFYING TO ME. COULD THIS BE "THE OLD BOY'S NETWORK" IN OPERATION? SEXUAL ASSAULT AND HARASSMENT SETTLEMENTS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE AS A “BUSINESS EXPENSE.” THAT IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF HOW THE WEALTHY AND POWERFUL MOLD LAWS AND BUSINESS RULES TO THEIR ADVANTAGE, AND WE GO ALONG WITH IT BECAUSE “BUSINESSMEN" ARE HEROES. THIS SICKENS ME.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/taxpayers-subsidize-hush-money-for-sexual-harassment-and-assault/
By PETER J. HENNING THE CONVERSATION November 7, 2017, 2:42 PM
Taxpayers subsidize "hush money" for sexual harassment and assault

Peter J. Henning is a professor of law at Wayne State University

Many of the recent stories about sexual abuse claims against disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and other powerful actors, journalists and executives mention settlements either they or their employers made to silence women who accused them of misconduct.

These settlements often require alleged victims to sign a nondisclosure agreement – essentially a pledge of secrecy – in exchange for a cash payment. They are designed to keep the reputations of allegedly abusive high-flyers intact, an arrangement that can allow repeated wrongdoing.

As a law professor who focuses on white-collar crime, what I find striking about these contracts is how they can be treated as tax-deductible business expenses. That means American taxpayers are helping foot the bill for keeping despicable behavior in the shadows.

I don't believe that secret payments to settle sexual abuse claims should be tax-deductible. Here's why.

Secret settlements
Sexual harassment becomes a crime only when there is a nonconsensual touching or sexual contact that can be prosecuted.

Victims of sexual harassment in the workplace usually can pursue personal injury claims by seeking damages from the executive or colleague responsible for it – or their employer – to compensate for emotional distress and any physical injury the abuse caused. These cases are mostly litigated at the state level, if they ever reach a courtroom.


The broader cost of these confidential agreements to society is that they leave perpetrators free to prey on new victims who are unaware that they may be walking into a trap when they meet privately with a powerful executive or someone who simply has greater seniority and influence.

Some states have tried to stop or at least curb this practice.

For example, Florida's Sunshine in Litigation Act prohibits courts from entering an order that conceals information related to a public hazard, which is defined as something or someone "that has caused and is likely to cause injury."

Other states with anti-secrecy laws include Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, New York, Oregon and Georgia.

That kind of solution, however, only goes a short way toward protecting the public because it is limited to cases that go to court. For example, a former Weinstein Company employee withdrew her complaint to management without ever resorting to a legal filing by accepting a settlement in 2015. A total of eight women have collected between roughly $80,000 and $150,000 each due to secret agreements not to disclose Weinstein's alleged misconduct, The New York Times reported in October.

screen-shot-2017-11-07-at-2-43-17-pm.png
AXIOS/THE CONVERSATION
When settlements stave off the filing of a sexual harassment complaint in court, the agreements aren't subject to mandates like Florida's Sunshine in Litigation Act.

California State Sen. Connie Leyva plans to introduce a bill that would go even further. Her legislation would ban all secret nondisclosure agreements in financial settlements that arise from sexual harassment, assault and discrimination cases.

Ordinary business expenses
The payments associated with these settlements can be treated as a business expense. That means they are tax-deductible, as long as they are related to the conduct of the company's ordinary operations.

Although it might seem odd to say that sexual harassment is within the realm of a company's business, the many accusations against Weinstein involved encounters that were at least purportedly related to future movie productions.

Either an employer or the person accused of harassment can pay the money required by these settlements. In O'Reilly's case, Fox has said it knew that he had reached a new settlement with an accuser before it renegotiated his contract earlier this year. Fox's insistence that the company was unaware of the size of the settlement – $32 million – makes it clear that O'Reilly wrote the check.

Even the attorney's fees for negotiating the settlement are deductible as another ordinary business expense.

Until about 50 years ago, payments related to violations of what the courts deemed violations of "public policy" were not tax-deductible. Congress changed that in 1969. Section 162 of the U.S. tax code now only explicitly prohibits the deduction of bribe payments, health care kickbacks, lobbying expenditures and any fines or penalties paid to the government for violating the law.

Just about everything else is deductible. But most victims of sexual harassment and abuse do not get a break. That's because the law exempts payments only for physical injuries, not for payments related to emotional distress.

Who else gets to deduct their settlement payments for misconduct?

One good example is BP. The oil giant got to write off over $15 billion of its $20.8 billion settlement with the federal government over its massive Gulf Coast oil spill, allowing it to potentially shelter years of income from federal taxes.

Another is JP Morgan. Its $13 billion settlement for faulty mortgages allowed the company to deduct about $7 billion from its taxes. A similar settlement by Goldman Sachs for subprime mortgages it packaged into securities resulted in a $5 billion settlement of which over half was tax deductible.

Changing the law

One way to discourage corporate misconduct is to raise the cost of engaging in it.

Congress is now weighing whether to close many loopholes as part of a broad tax package. In my opinion, that makes this the ideal time to stop allowing deductions for secret settlements of sexual abuse claims from corporate or personal income taxes.

Ending this tax break would make this kind of confidentiality agreement more costly for perpetrators and the companies that let them off the hook. That would give corporate accountants and human resources departments a powerful incentive to root out the problem.

There are no surefire ways to end sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. But making it cost more to hide this misconduct might help make it less commonplace.

The Conversation
This article was originally published on The Conversation.



MADDOW REPORTS

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 11/6/17
Trump fails to act on gun violence mental illness concerns
Rachel Maddow points out that while Donald Trump is quick to concoct his own diagnosis of the latest mass killing shooter as mentally ill, his actions in office so far show a disregard for mental illness and gun ownership. Duration: 5:23


http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/sen-chris-murphy-republicans-are-afraid-of-the-gun-lobby-1090054723719
11/6/17
Sen. Chris Murphy: Republicans are afraid of the gun lobby
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) joins Lawrence O'Donnell to react to the mass shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas that left 26 people dead and to demand congressional Republicans stand up to the gun lobby and finally do something to prevent more bloodshed. Duration: 5:27


THE BEAT WITH ARI MELBER 11/6/17
Report: Russia support for Trump began three weeks into campaign
New report reveals Kremlin support for Trump began much earlier than previously thought. GOP insider and aide for Sen. Cruz’s 2016 campaign, Ron Nehring responds on The Beat. Duration: 6:27


http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/-a-loss-would-be-a-blow-what-va-means-for-dems-1090242627917
MORNING JOE 11/7/17
'A loss would be a blow': What Va. means for Dems
All eyes are on Virginia's gubernatorial race and what it could mean for the Democrats. The panel discusses Virginia and how the New Jersey race for governor is shaping up. Duration: 5:35