Presidential Medal of Freedom
Donald Trump has announced that he is awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to seven individuals.
Roger Staubach - Graduate of the Naval Academy. Heisman Trophy winner. Vietnam Veteran. NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback. Conservative Republican.
Antonin Scalia - D.C. Circuit Court Judge. Supreme Court Justice. Author of over 900 SCOTUS opinions. Conservative Republican.
George Herman "Babe" Ruth - One of the five inaugural members of Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame. Still holds the all-time career records in MLB for slugging percentage and on-base plus slugging percentage. Held the MLB record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched in World Series games for decades. Still holds 2nd place among Hall of Fame pitchers for career winning percentage. Considered by some (including this writer) to be the greatest baseball player ever. Some hit more home runs. Some pitched longer and better. None did both.
Elvis Aaron Presley - 31 films and 14 Grammy awards. Known as the "King" of Rock and Roll. Cultural Icon. Tried to keep his political beliefs private, although in 1956 he did say he was voting for Adlai Stevenson.
Alan C. Page - Member of the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame. Went to law school while still playing in the NFL. Minnesota Special Assistant Attorney General. Associate Justice of the Minnesota State Supreme Court. Community Activist. Philanthropist. His judicial ideology was rated as "liberal leaning" by two Stanford University professors.
Senator Orin Hatch (R)-UT - Current President pro tempore of the Senate. Chair of Finance Committee. Has served in the Senate since 1977, making him the longest serving Republican Senator in history. Reporter's Note: I find it interesting that in his initial campaign for his current seat in the Senate, he was running against a three-term senator. During that campaign he said "what do you call a Senator who has served in office for 18 years? You call him home." Staunch advocate of balanced budgets. Strongly opposed to same-sex marriage for a long time, but those views appear to have softened.
Miriam Adelson, MD - Wife of billionaire Sheldon Adelson. Substance abuse researcher. Philanthropist. Very strong supporter of Israel.
* * *
There is no question that at least some of the awards of the Presidential Medal of Freedom are politically motivated. There is also no question that presidents get to make this award to anyone they believe worthy.
In its story announcing the seven honorees, the Las Vegas Review-Journal pointed out that among the people honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama were:
Warren Buffett
Ellen DeGeneres
Bruce Springsteen
Oprah Winfrey
They didn't mention Bill and Melinda Gates, both honored in 2016. They did make mention of the fact that the Adelsons own the Review-Journal.
Because Dr. Adelson has a much lower "public profile" than most recipients of this honor, I got curious. She established a medical research foundation along with the substance abuse treatment center that bears her name. There is also an independent private school that bears the names of Dr. Adelson and her husband, the only such Jewish private school in all of Nevada.
* * *
My research shows the following non-profits established by Sheldon and Miriam Adelson:
Adelson Family Foundation
Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Charitable Trust
Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Educational Institute
Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Medical Research Foundation
Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Clinic Drug Abuse Treatment Research Inc.
Friends of the Adelson Drug Clinic
In 2016, the Adelsons contributed $145 million to their charitable trust. The charitable trust donated $121 million to the Adelson Family Foundation. The charitable trust donated $27 million to the Adelson Medical Research Foundation. It also gave $50,000 to the Adelson Drug Clinic and $300,000 to the Friends of the Adelson Drug Clinic.
We get introduced to a gentleman named Michael Bohnen on the Form 990-PF for the Adelson Family Foundation. On Mr. Bohnen's LinkedIn profile it lists his positions as President of the Adelson Family Foundation and as Of Counsel for a law firm in Boston. He has been working for that law firm since 1972 and was a partner for a period of time that ended in 2006.
That Form 990-PF shows no compensation for Mr. Bohnen for his work for the Adelson Family Foundation, even though it shows he devotes an average of 35 hours per week in that position. What does show is that this foundation paid a Delaware LLC named Interface Operations, LLC the sum of $524,696 for what is labeled as "Acctg, IT & Mgmt incl M. Bohnen Pres of $374,096 comp & benefits."
It appears that this is Mr. Bohnen's compensation for his work as president of this foundation. So why is it being washed through a Delaware LLC that appears to be owned by the Adelsons?
The Form 990-PF of the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Medical Research Foundation shows a payment to that same LLC, Interface Operations of $134,100 identified as "Mgmt inc VP ($123,000), Legal, Acctg." The return lists one Steven Garfinkel as VP & General Counsel, indicating he spends an average of 5 hours per week working for this non-profit. If he's earning $123,000 annually for 5 hours of work per week, that's a hefty hourly rate of pay.
So why aren't these payments to people apparently employed by these non-profits being reported directly on the Forms 990-PF? There may be absolutely nothing untoward about these payments, but the fact it looks like some kind of shell game for these payments seems odd.
* * *
In the end, Donald Trump has every right to give a Presidential Medal of Freedom to whoever he wants. I admire the charitable works of the Adelsons, especially their commitment to dealing with opiate addiction. But make no mistake, at least part of the reason she is being honored is because of their continued largess to Republican political campaigns. Largess that according to the Center for Responsive Politics totals $113,036,500 thus far in just 2018. That is more than twice as much as the next individual on the list.
Remember, this is nothing new. Remember that back in 2001, on his final day in office, President Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich. Rich's wife Denise donated $1 million to the Democratic Party, $450,000 to the Clinton Library Foundation and over $100,000 to the U.S. Senate campaign of Hillary Clinton before the pardon was issued. After the indictment against Mr. Rich that could have resulted in his spending the rest of his life in federal prison, he fled the country. He bought himself a ticket home.
Politics as usual. Different system of justice for those who have the money to buy their freedom.
Roger Staubach - Graduate of the Naval Academy. Heisman Trophy winner. Vietnam Veteran. NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback. Conservative Republican.
Antonin Scalia - D.C. Circuit Court Judge. Supreme Court Justice. Author of over 900 SCOTUS opinions. Conservative Republican.
George Herman "Babe" Ruth - One of the five inaugural members of Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame. Still holds the all-time career records in MLB for slugging percentage and on-base plus slugging percentage. Held the MLB record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched in World Series games for decades. Still holds 2nd place among Hall of Fame pitchers for career winning percentage. Considered by some (including this writer) to be the greatest baseball player ever. Some hit more home runs. Some pitched longer and better. None did both.
Elvis Aaron Presley - 31 films and 14 Grammy awards. Known as the "King" of Rock and Roll. Cultural Icon. Tried to keep his political beliefs private, although in 1956 he did say he was voting for Adlai Stevenson.
Alan C. Page - Member of the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame. Went to law school while still playing in the NFL. Minnesota Special Assistant Attorney General. Associate Justice of the Minnesota State Supreme Court. Community Activist. Philanthropist. His judicial ideology was rated as "liberal leaning" by two Stanford University professors.
Senator Orin Hatch (R)-UT - Current President pro tempore of the Senate. Chair of Finance Committee. Has served in the Senate since 1977, making him the longest serving Republican Senator in history. Reporter's Note: I find it interesting that in his initial campaign for his current seat in the Senate, he was running against a three-term senator. During that campaign he said "what do you call a Senator who has served in office for 18 years? You call him home." Staunch advocate of balanced budgets. Strongly opposed to same-sex marriage for a long time, but those views appear to have softened.
Miriam Adelson, MD - Wife of billionaire Sheldon Adelson. Substance abuse researcher. Philanthropist. Very strong supporter of Israel.
* * *
There is no question that at least some of the awards of the Presidential Medal of Freedom are politically motivated. There is also no question that presidents get to make this award to anyone they believe worthy.
In its story announcing the seven honorees, the Las Vegas Review-Journal pointed out that among the people honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama were:
Warren Buffett
Ellen DeGeneres
Bruce Springsteen
Oprah Winfrey
They didn't mention Bill and Melinda Gates, both honored in 2016. They did make mention of the fact that the Adelsons own the Review-Journal.
Because Dr. Adelson has a much lower "public profile" than most recipients of this honor, I got curious. She established a medical research foundation along with the substance abuse treatment center that bears her name. There is also an independent private school that bears the names of Dr. Adelson and her husband, the only such Jewish private school in all of Nevada.
* * *
My research shows the following non-profits established by Sheldon and Miriam Adelson:
Adelson Family Foundation
Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Charitable Trust
Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Educational Institute
Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Medical Research Foundation
Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Clinic Drug Abuse Treatment Research Inc.
Friends of the Adelson Drug Clinic
In 2016, the Adelsons contributed $145 million to their charitable trust. The charitable trust donated $121 million to the Adelson Family Foundation. The charitable trust donated $27 million to the Adelson Medical Research Foundation. It also gave $50,000 to the Adelson Drug Clinic and $300,000 to the Friends of the Adelson Drug Clinic.
We get introduced to a gentleman named Michael Bohnen on the Form 990-PF for the Adelson Family Foundation. On Mr. Bohnen's LinkedIn profile it lists his positions as President of the Adelson Family Foundation and as Of Counsel for a law firm in Boston. He has been working for that law firm since 1972 and was a partner for a period of time that ended in 2006.
That Form 990-PF shows no compensation for Mr. Bohnen for his work for the Adelson Family Foundation, even though it shows he devotes an average of 35 hours per week in that position. What does show is that this foundation paid a Delaware LLC named Interface Operations, LLC the sum of $524,696 for what is labeled as "Acctg, IT & Mgmt incl M. Bohnen Pres of $374,096 comp & benefits."
It appears that this is Mr. Bohnen's compensation for his work as president of this foundation. So why is it being washed through a Delaware LLC that appears to be owned by the Adelsons?
The Form 990-PF of the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Medical Research Foundation shows a payment to that same LLC, Interface Operations of $134,100 identified as "Mgmt inc VP ($123,000), Legal, Acctg." The return lists one Steven Garfinkel as VP & General Counsel, indicating he spends an average of 5 hours per week working for this non-profit. If he's earning $123,000 annually for 5 hours of work per week, that's a hefty hourly rate of pay.
So why aren't these payments to people apparently employed by these non-profits being reported directly on the Forms 990-PF? There may be absolutely nothing untoward about these payments, but the fact it looks like some kind of shell game for these payments seems odd.
* * *
In the end, Donald Trump has every right to give a Presidential Medal of Freedom to whoever he wants. I admire the charitable works of the Adelsons, especially their commitment to dealing with opiate addiction. But make no mistake, at least part of the reason she is being honored is because of their continued largess to Republican political campaigns. Largess that according to the Center for Responsive Politics totals $113,036,500 thus far in just 2018. That is more than twice as much as the next individual on the list.
Remember, this is nothing new. Remember that back in 2001, on his final day in office, President Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich. Rich's wife Denise donated $1 million to the Democratic Party, $450,000 to the Clinton Library Foundation and over $100,000 to the U.S. Senate campaign of Hillary Clinton before the pardon was issued. After the indictment against Mr. Rich that could have resulted in his spending the rest of his life in federal prison, he fled the country. He bought himself a ticket home.
Politics as usual. Different system of justice for those who have the money to buy their freedom.
posted by me at 5:21 PM
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