Timothy Geithner Owed Back Taxes, Became Treasury Secretary.

[sabrina 1]

Owing back taxes has suddenly become a major crime in America, it appears. But just a few years ago, it was so inconsequential that it had no impact on a nomination for Treasury Secretary in the President's cabinet.

Here's how it works, it depends on who you are. IF you are a journalist who has published leaks that are embarrassing to the US government, smearing your reputation by digging up information such as you owed back taxes, is supposed to make the stories you published somehow less important.

That's not true of course. Those stories will continue to be important as they should.

We have 'Security Contractors' now who get contracts for this kind of work, which is then spread around by using rags like The Daily Mail and of course, internet operatives.

HB Gary's exposed emails revealed that they, a 'Security Contractor', had proposed a smear campaign against Greenwald a few years ago, then just a blogger, in order to get him to stop writing about Bank of America and The Chamber of Commerce. How many others are doing so, we don't yet know, but let's hope more Whistle Blowers step forward because knowledge is power.

More facts emerge about the leaked smear campaigns

The emails also show that it was Barr [from HB Gary] who suggested pressuring Salon.com journalist Glenn Greenwald, though Palantir, another firm working with HBGary Federal, quickly accepted that suggestion and added it to the PowerPoint presentation that the group was assembling.

Greenberg is referring to this series of emails, first from HBGary’s Barr — addressed to Palantir’s Matthew Steckman and Eli Bingham along with Berico’s Sam Kremin (click image to enlarge):

Yes, they were planning a smear campaign against Glenn Greenwald to 'pressure him' to stop telling the truth about Bank of America and The Chamber of Commerce, for money!

Anonymous was responsible for the HB Gary exposures.

But, what happens if you are a member of the top 1% and you 'forget' to pay taxes on your housekeeper for several years? Will people dismiss you once it's been exposed?

Hardly, you apologize, pay your back taxes, and Congress will nominate you to the position of Treasury Secretary:



Timothy Geithner says he regrets tax mistakes

Geithner, who as Treasury secretary would be in charge of the IRS, paid back taxes for 2003 and 2004 after an IRS audit in 2006. Geithner paid further back taxes and interest after similar problems for his 2001 and 2002 returns were discovered during vetting by the Obama team.

In total, Geithner paid $34,023 in back taxes and $8,679 in interest.

Well, we should all be glad that in the end the taxes got paid.

HB Gary had to forget about their 'contract proposal' to BOA and The Chamber of Commerce because Americans on the whole, are nice people. They don't like to see these kinds of dirty tricks being played to try to silence a journalist. Sometimes they have the opposite effect. See Clinton eg. And BOA and The Chamber weren't happy to have these things see the light of day, the way they deal with people who tell the truth about them.

But just because HB Gary didn't get the Contract to smear Greenwald, doesn't mean someone else didn't get one. Apparently there is money in smearing Greenwald. For being a real journalist. It looks like someone else did get that contract.

Is this the kind of country we want? Because if it is, then once it is exposed, as it has been, it won't be just one side doing it. I personally think it is despicable and will not be distracted from the main issue which they are attempting to cover up.

Watch out Journalists, if you are even thinking of publishing the facts. Watch what is happening to journalists who do and then decide if your country is worth the risk.

Give them hell Glenn. You are one hell of a reporter and the more they do this the more we know you are telling the truth!

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Shhh don't tell anyone

But at least here, that is falling. And on twitter...it is hilarious

[sabrina 1]

2. I know, twitter is on fire. They are only making him more popular. They haven't learned

from the smear campaign against Clinton.

jeremy scahill ?@jeremyscahill 34m
Clearly an opposition research file on @ggreenwald was delivered to these "journalists" at the same time. They're tools.

[Dragonfli]

3. Timmi isn't gay, so all is forgiven (no sexual excitement chasing him down over taxes)

You make a good point and what I posted sounds flippant but I really believe the gay thing is purposefully being used in the smear campaign. I do think Sabrina, that all oxygen wasted on the smearing and the defense of smears is oxygen need to fuel debate on the actual issue.

We should point out the personality distraction /vilification of the messengers for what they are but must remember also that they want us talking about the personalities rather than the issue itself, I don't think it matters to them which side of the personality debate we are on, only that THAT is what we talk about.

[sabrina 1]

5. I know they don't want us talking about the Leaks, and attacking Greenwald is meant to distract

from that.

It won't. I have been reading more and more information that did not get nearly enough attention in the past by several of the other Whistle Blowers, like Binney and Drake and even before the, and it should blow the minds of Americans to learn what is already out there, and make them demand to know what is going on with this government.

But they also have to know that attacking Greenwald will not work.

Tonight all over the internet, people are coming out in support of him. Even some who don't necessarily like him, like even less, these attacks on journalists. That is a very scary thing to see and I am glad to see even people like Jeremy Scahill up late slamming what he called 'the despicable attacks on Greenwald'.

This is going to backfire on them. It IS despicable. They want US to have a lesser opinion of him, we have to let them know it won't work.

And no, it won't distract from the issues they are trying to hide from us. It will do the opposite.

[Dragonfli]

7. You are a good multi-tasker, I Know you can do both.

In that light I am sure you are aware the smears will soon spread to include Binney and Drake, it's what they do, they have grown exceedingly efficient at it.

Thanks for the response, in my tunnel vision I hadn't considered the obvious, "They want US to have a lesser opinion of him, we have to let them know it won't work."

It's probably better to confront the psyops as well as the issue, else the smear technicians will have the microphone all to themselves.

[sabrina 1]

12. I think it is important that they know, and most of all, that he knows, people will not stop

supporting him and that they are wasting their time. HE needs to know how much support he has, as I can imagine how scary it must be to know that the US Government is watching you, that they are angry at you and that there are people, like the Chamber of Commerce, powerful people, who you already know, targeted you before.

There is strength in numbers and I am so glad to see the support he is getting all over the internet tonight.

I agree, confront the psyops (I suspect the same people who targeted him before) AND keep the pressure on Congress to investigate these leaks and start applying the law to those who so far, seem impervious to our laws. It is up to the people, what kind of country we want to live in.

[MNBrewer]

6. Nor is he living in a sodomy marriage with his Brazilian Lovah!

[kenny blankenship]

4. John Brennan is a torturer. Now he runs the CIA for Obama.

He kinda looks like his name should be "The Butcher of Ingolstadt" or similar, no?

[sabrina 1]

8. A despicable Bush lacky. What is he doing in a Democratic Administration?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/opinion/john-brennans-excuse-on-torture-report.html

Mr. Brennan’s Excuse

John Brennan, the newly confirmed chief of the Central Intelligence Agency, has been at the agency for most of 25 years. He had two counterterrorism jobs during the administration of George W. Bush. In one, he compiled intelligence reports from 20 agencies (including the C.I.A.) for Mr. Bush’s morning briefing. He was President Obama’s counterterrorism adviser in his first term and an architect of the Obama administration’s targeted killings policy.

Yet, at his Senate confirmation hearing in February, he appeared to be one of the few people (apart from maybe Dick Cheney and some other die-hard right-wingers) who thinks there is some doubt still about whether the Bush administration tortured prisoners, hid its actions from Congress and misled everyone about whether coerced testimony provided valuable intelligence.

It just keeps getting worse. This is one scary individual. How many Republicans are there in this administration now? I've lost count. 'Vote for Democrats, put Republicans back in office'. Unbelievable.

[liberal_at_heart]

9. different set of rules for the rich and powerful than for everybody else.

[sabrina 1]

11. Yes, we have sunk very low over the past decade. I just read an article tonight asking 'Do they

think we are stupid'? Regarding this smear campaign. The author pointed out that these smear campaigns are not only meant to frighten the target, they are meant to scare others who might normally have done their jobs as reporters.

I know that by writing an OP about the smears in some ways it is doing what they want, spending time on this rather than the real issue. However, I think it is also important to support Greenwald and any other reporter they go after and let them know, this is not going to work. AND at the same time to continue to focus on the what they are so desperate to hide.

[Catherina]

24. And those people only make it plain that they're with the 1%.

I got a hearty laugh this morning seeing how spectacularly this has backfired on said idiots.

[LuvNewcastle]

10. A whole lot of people owe back taxes.

Plenty of popular stars and entertainers have tax issues and end up owing money to the IRS, not to mention all the ordinary people who do. As long as they keep up with the payments they owe and are working toward paying the debt, it's no problem. Greenwald's detractors are looking desperate and weak by pointing out such an insignificant thing. If that's all they have, they're the ones who are going to wind up with egg on their faces.

[sabrina 1]

14. I guess that is all they have, and it's already backfiring on them.

They do look desperate, because they are. Which makes you wonder, what we already know is bad enough, so what is it they are so desperate to hide that they would go after a journalist with a sleazy rag as the The Daily Mail? Attacking a journalist personally is extremely bad.

[BlueCheese]

13. I'm really curious as to who gave that info to the NYDN.

I really hope it's nobody inside government.

[sabrina 1]

16. I think a lot of people are asking that question. I saw Jeremy Scahill on Twitter tonight

and if anyone can get to the bottom of it, he can.

I have some suspects considering that we know Greenwald was a target before, thanks to the Anonymous exposure of HB Gary's emails. They led to more 'Spy Corporations' who do this kind of work for Big Corporations, and for the Chamber of Commerce eg. The FBI was implicated in that mess, and one of our Democratic Reps in Congress called for an investigation into the possible illegal involvement of the FBI. So far, nothing has come of that.

Here's a link that dealt with the smears that were planned for Greenwald among others at the time:

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/02/10/143428/chamberleaks-target-families/
US Chamber’s Lobbyists Solicited Firm To Investigate Opponents’ Families, Children

According to e-mails obtained by ThinkProgress, the Chamber hired the lobbying firm Hunton and Williams. Attorneys for the firm solicited a set of private security firms — HBGary Federal, Palantir, and Berico Technologies (collectively called Team Themis) — to develop a sabotage campaign against progressive groups and labor unions, including ThinkProgress, the labor coalition Change to Win, SEIU, US Chamber Watch, and StopTheChamber.com.

New emails reveal that the private spy company investigated the families and children of the Chamber’s political opponents. The apparent spearhead of this project was Aaron Barr, an executive at HBGary. Barr circulated numerous emails and documents detailing information about political opponents’ children, spouses, and personal lives.

One of the targets was Mike Gehrke, a former staffer with Change to Win. Among the information circulated about Gehrke was the specific “Jewish church” he attended and a link to pictures of his wife and two children (sensitive information was redacted by ThinkProgress):

Here's the kind of nasty thing they do, despicable actually and you wonder why it is not illegal:



I have no doubt this is a paid-for smear campaign, and I hope some of the investigative journalists who are appalled by it, and have said so publicly, will start using their skills to expose them.

[Democracyinkind]

22. Depends on your definition of government

Apparently, we have 2 of those now. The one we always knew, and a newer, private one, that operates without any oversight except by the people that own it.

Privatization yeah!

[HiPointDem]

15. geithner isn't the only recent high-profile person who owed back taxes in some similar situation

either. i think i recall at least two others but can't call up the names.

and then of course there's the high profile tax dodgers, but it doesn't seem to impede their attainment of high office, even when they're going to be managing money. maybe it's a qualification for the job in fact:

http://www.ctj.org/taxjusticedigest/archive/2013/05/tax_rules_for_the_rich_are_dif.php

[sabrina 1]

18. So true, and they get appointed to powerful positions, and pardoned by presidents.

Marc Rich died today. Tax evader and fugitive from justice, he was pardoned by Clinton. I wonder if he ever did pay his taxes?

I think this one is blowing up in their faces. As someone else said, if that's all they have on him, and they've been doing opposition research on him since he went after the Banks, he has nothing to worry about. But they obviously do.

[HiPointDem]

19. another act that shows clinton for exactly who he is. & no, rich never paid up. maybe he

paid off clinton's campaign fund.

[geckosfeet]

17. And if he was never nominated he likely never would have paid.

[sabrina 1]

20. He had plenty of opportunity to pay, according to the news reports at the time. He

claimed he had tried to figure it all out which is what delayed him from paying. Lol, he couldn't figure out the taxes on ONE person's salary, but they made Treasury Secretary.

Years of non payment while he was at the IMF and even after it was pointed out to him by an accountant, he still didn't pay.

So, you are correct, he paid only after he was caught. Unlike Greenwald apparently.

Greenwald isn't in the 'club' as George Carlin called it. 'It's a big club and we ain't in it'. All he has to do is what Gregory does, in order to gain entry and after that, he could commit murder and they would protect him.

[forestpath]

21. knr

[Enthusiast]

23. Kicked and Recommended!

Geithner actually has shifty eyes. Seriously.

[sabrina 1]

27. Yes, watching him trying to evade Elizabeth Warren's questions about what had happened to the

money set aside to help Main St. miniscule by comparison to what his buddies on Wall St took to cover their gambling debts, he was so angry, angry that anyone should deign to question him about anything.

But she was relentless, demanding to know why most of that money had 'not been spent' while millions were still waiting for loan modifications. Well now we know, thanks to yet another Whistle Blower, that the banks were lying to the people, pretending to be reviewing their mortgages under that program, when in fact they were ignoring them.

We never found out, because refused to tell Elizabeth Warren, where all that money was. Shifty isn't the word for what he is.

[bullwinkle428]

25. What bothered me the most about Timmeh - he was such a cheap bastage,

that he didn't bother hiring an accountant to handle his piles of $$$ he'd accumulated as an "insider", and instead tried to do it all through Turbo Tax. Now, I've used TT myself for many years without a problem at all, but I'm just an ordinary working stiff with a very simple income structure.

K&R.

[Bluenorthwest]

26. Tax Cheat put in charge of the Treasury.

Definitive of the Obama Family ethics. While appointing a tax cheat to run the IRS, Obama was busily explaining that gay folks are not as spiritual as straights and thus, we are not 'Sanctified' in marriage. Very important intellectual stuff.