Sunday Letters to Bette: Treasury Nominee Scott Bessent by Martin Sheil
Retired IRS criminal investigator Martin Sheil writes about the Soros connected hedge fund executive Trump tapped to be the Treasury secretary
***Please take out a membership to support the light of truth.***
Author’s Note: Bette friends have enjoyed many a Tuesday Happy Hour with our friend Marty, who has helped us follow the money behind the headlines of distraction. Here is his latest letter to Bette, focused on Scott Bessent.—hsc
Sunday Letters to Bette: Treasury Nominee Scott Bessent
By Martin Sheil
H,
I wanted to share a factoid or nugget or two with regard to Scott Bessent - Mr. Trump's nominee for Secretary of Treasury.
Under the category of - did you know?
Did you know that Scott Bessent was a key investment manager for the key progressive financial contributor and bane to all MAGA nauts - George Soros? Did you know Bessent used to host fundraisers for Al Gore, Hillary and Bill Clinton, before getting on the Trump train and donating millions to The Donald?
Did you know that (like JD Vance funder Peter Thiel) Scott Bessent has been publicly recognized as a gay man in an upcoming administration that expresses profound homophobia, and he will likely be approved by the Republican Congress to helm one of the largest Federal bureaucracies in government that, in all likelihood, employs thousands of LGBTQ employees? It is noted that Congress has already teed up one of Trump's pet project - legislation banning all trans women in athletic competition with biological women.
Does Steve Bannon know Bessent is gay?
I would also ask the question whether Steve Bannon and the MAGA world realized Bessent’s close relationship with Soros the bane of the right and the embodiment of all that is evil to MAGA…
But all will be forgiven should Bessent guide a new era of wealth and lower taxes to the uber rich in his role of Sherpa to the oligarch class.
Did you know Politico has run an article that alleges that Mr. Bessent has used questionable tax dodges to escape hundreds of thousands of dollars on millions of dollars in income?
Oh my!
It seems that Mr. Bessent claims to be a passive partner or investor in income producing entities that allows him certain tax advantages (claim losses). One such entity is a conservative book publishing company called All Seasons Press - ASP. But the kicker is that ASP got into a lawsuit with a conservative author over a contract and it came out in the suit that Mr. Bessent was actively involved in ASP.
If Bessent was actively involved that begs the tax question of just how he could represent to the tax authorities that he was only passively involved?
Oh my!
Here is the key sentence in the article referencing the lawsuit - “but the defense more or less conceded the truth of some of Lee Smith’s major claims, namely that Bessent has a significant role in the publisher, and that his involvement was hidden from both Smith and from the public.”
Did you know that if Bessent maintained an active role in ASP that may jeopardize his tax strategy to game the system and circumvent his tax exposure.
Wealthy people gaming the tax system to minimize their taxes is exactly the reason that Biden obtained a significant increase in the IRS budget so that besides renewing their falling down infrastructure and replace their badly attrited workforce - but it was the intent of both Biden and Congress to target the uber wealthy who were not paying their fair share.
Biden warned folks in his farewell that the tax code needed to be overhauled to bring back fairness to the system.
And he warned about the developing concentration of the wealthy and the powerful taking power.
Now it seems that one of those wealthy and powerful is fixing to run the US Treasury Department and by the looks of it, his first order of business will be to protect the wealthy and the powerful and see to it that the tax code is further adjusted to the favor of the…
wait for it
wait for it
The wealthy and the powerful
Did you know that?
Sure you did.
That is what the people voted for and don't you know it ... that is exactly what they are going to get.
sincerely,
marty
writing from my cage which seems to get smaller every day
“Before equal justice can be had, fairness everywhere must be secured.”
—Martin Sheil
****
****
Bette Dangerous is a reader-funded magazine. Thank you to all monthly, annual, and founding members.
I expose the corruption of billionaire fascists, while relying on memberships to keep the light on.
Thank you in advance for considering the following:
Share my reporting with allies
Buying my ebooks
A private link to an annual membership discount for older adults, those on fixed incomes or drawing disability, as well as activists and members of the media is available upon request at bettedangerous/gmail. 🥹
More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter/producer, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
🤍
Begin each day with a grateful heart.
🤍
Scott Bessent in 2024, courtesy Wikipedia.