FBI response to ABCNews Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request:
About two weeks ago, the FBI evoked FOIA exemption 7(a) and denied access to all Bain Capital records on the grounds that "there is a pending or prospective law enforcement proceeding relevant to these responsive records; and that release of the information contained in these responsive records could reasonably be expected to interfere with the enforcement proceedings."
FBI Response to FOIA Re: Bain Capital
Questions can be raised whether the FBI is required to release Bain files related to an open investigation. As the FBI response shows, the answer to that question is no. However, the response also shows that the FBI is required to acknowledge the probe's existence. The only time the Bureau is allowed to claim a no records response is during an active investigation in which acknowledgment of responsive records would compromise it.
Off shore bank accounts are tools to help lessen the tax burden US citizens face. Are off shore bank accounts a bad thing? They might be if you are worth $250 million dollars, running for president and trying to connect with the average American citizen.
In 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that Mitt Romney, as head of Bain Capital, utilized shell companies and two offshore tax havens in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands to help eligible investors avoid paying U.S. taxes. The tax-friendly jurisdictions helped attract billions of investment dollars to Bain Capital. Los Angeles Times reporter Bob Drogan spoke about this in 2008:
BOB DROGIN: "A side light of that was Bain Capital, which today has assets of about $60 billion — that’s their — the number that they officially say — and about a third of that comes from these offshore operations that Romney set up when he was still there, in particular, companies that are set up — really, they’re just mail drops, they’re mailboxes; they don’t have any staff, they don’t have any operations. The one on Grand Cayman Island is a Post Office Box 60D, I think, on Grand Cayman Island, and the ones in Bermuda are also at a lawyer’s office. But they’ve got them in other places as well. And they bring in somewhere above $25 billion a year."
"And again, it’s — these are companies — these are operations set up through various systems. They’re blocker corporations. They are investment — or rather, equity groups that are set up to attract, for the large part, foreign capital. And the reason these are set up overseas is so that foreign investors in these private companies can avoid paying U.S. taxes. Mitt Romney and his colleagues don’t get that advantage. So it’s not like they’re avoiding taxes through this. It’s simply — what happens is, they’re helping other people avoid paying U.S. taxes, and as a result they make enormous profits."
TomFlocco: ABCNews: FBI probing Bain Capital; ABC reports Romney & wife's millions in Cayman Island offshore accounts
About two weeks ago, the FBI evoked FOIA exemption 7(a) and denied access to all Bain Capital records on the grounds that "there is a pending or prospective law enforcement proceeding relevant to these responsive records; and that release of the information contained in these responsive records could reasonably be expected to interfere with the enforcement proceedings."
FBI Response to FOIA Re: Bain Capital
Questions can be raised whether the FBI is required to release Bain files related to an open investigation. As the FBI response shows, the answer to that question is no. However, the response also shows that the FBI is required to acknowledge the probe's existence. The only time the Bureau is allowed to claim a no records response is during an active investigation in which acknowledgment of responsive records would compromise it.
Off shore bank accounts are tools to help lessen the tax burden US citizens face. Are off shore bank accounts a bad thing? They might be if you are worth $250 million dollars, running for president and trying to connect with the average American citizen.
In 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that Mitt Romney, as head of Bain Capital, utilized shell companies and two offshore tax havens in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands to help eligible investors avoid paying U.S. taxes. The tax-friendly jurisdictions helped attract billions of investment dollars to Bain Capital. Los Angeles Times reporter Bob Drogan spoke about this in 2008:
BOB DROGIN: "A side light of that was Bain Capital, which today has assets of about $60 billion — that’s their — the number that they officially say — and about a third of that comes from these offshore operations that Romney set up when he was still there, in particular, companies that are set up — really, they’re just mail drops, they’re mailboxes; they don’t have any staff, they don’t have any operations. The one on Grand Cayman Island is a Post Office Box 60D, I think, on Grand Cayman Island, and the ones in Bermuda are also at a lawyer’s office. But they’ve got them in other places as well. And they bring in somewhere above $25 billion a year."
"And again, it’s — these are companies — these are operations set up through various systems. They’re blocker corporations. They are investment — or rather, equity groups that are set up to attract, for the large part, foreign capital. And the reason these are set up overseas is so that foreign investors in these private companies can avoid paying U.S. taxes. Mitt Romney and his colleagues don’t get that advantage. So it’s not like they’re avoiding taxes through this. It’s simply — what happens is, they’re helping other people avoid paying U.S. taxes, and as a result they make enormous profits."
TomFlocco: ABCNews: FBI probing Bain Capital; ABC reports Romney & wife's millions in Cayman Island offshore accounts
