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MN GOP PRESS RELEASE: “REPUBLICAN PARTY OF MINNESOTA CALLS ON FRANKEN CAMPAIGN TO CLARIFY WHO TOLD CPA NOT TO TALK”
By Michael B. Brodkorb | May 1, 2008
St. Paul- According to a story in the Star Tribune today, Al Franken’s CPA Allen Chanzis of the New York firm of Wlodinguer, Erk & Chanzis, has been instructed not to talk about Franken’s growing tax scandal. Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Ron Carey said it would be alarming if Franken’s political campaign has ordered Franken’s corporate accountant to remain silent.
“Who ordered the CPA’s silence and why was it ordered? Was it the Al Franken Campaign? Was it Al Franken? Was it Al Franken’s attorneys? And, more importantly, who have they ordered him not to talk to? Is it the press? Or, has he also been instructed not to talk to state officials of the 17 states Franken admits he owes money to?” Carey asked.
“It may be that state officials in each of those states will demand access to the CPA whom Franken is blaming for his problems and to ask a series of questions to determine why tax returns were not filed, or taxes not paid and who made the decision not to file those returns or pay the taxes,” Carey stated.
From The Star Tribune:
“Contacted at his Long Island apartment, Chanzis declined to discuss Franken’s statements that the accountant’s mistakes caused Franken’s taxes to go unpaid in 17 states. ‘I’ve been told to say, “No comment,”’ Chanzis said, without saying who had instructed him to do so. Refusing to discuss any mistakes, he added: ‘I’ve been told you have the information you need.’” (Patricia Lopez, Kevin Duchschere & Conrad Wilson, “Tax guy mum; DFLers backing Franken,” Star Tribune, May 1, 2008)
Topics: Uncategorized | 27 Comments »
May 1st, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Why is a person’s request for confidentiality on personal financial matters in any way odd?
If I call your accountant, Michael, would he/she give me anything I asked for?
May 1st, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Really. Since when does a guy’s accountant owe it to his client’s sworn enimes and/or the media to release personal financial information?
As per his usual, Ron Carey is overreaching.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Well Ron Carey asked for it, so the Franken campaign ought to get right on his request. Doesn’t the MNGOP have any candidates to support right now? It would appear that instead of supporting their own weak candidates, they are focusing all of their energy on this. I guess the staff has to have something to do.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:03 pm
When did Team Franken —-> Franken Campaign?
May 1st, 2008 at 7:42 pm
How does a New Yorker perform CPR?
“Get off the f#cken ground before you f#cken die.”
I’ll assume both Norm and Al have heard that after living in the state for a number of years.
Franken will get off the pavement and compete. If taxes were paid one way or another, it won’t be the end-all for him.
As far as this posting. Weak, very weak. As for the previous week, pretty solid work Michael.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Pretty common practice to tell the accountant to say “no comment.” … more common practice would be to tell the accountant where to direct inquires (e.g., an official spokesperson or an attorney).
Either way, what Chanzis says isn’t that important. I’m more interested the the fraudulent letter the lying Franken campaign tried to pass off when this scandal first began.
Who is Monifa Benison? And why did the Franken campaign use her name to try to pass off the lie that he tried to dissolve his business in Calif.?
Why does the Franken campaign revert to lies, damned lies and mega-lies as it tries to squirm out of scandals involving Al Franken’s criminal behavior?
Can we expect a potential Senator Coleman to tell these kinds of lies?
Of course we can, he’s a goddam Democrat.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Al Franken has been an entertainer for 30 years. He hangs out with entertainers. He travels all over the country. He gives speeches. He does book signings. He conducts business in who knows how many states.
He makes a point of saying he is a CEO. He makes a point of saying corporations need to be held accountable. He talks about how he employs people. And, he talks a lot about how well versed he is in policy. He has a Harvard degree. He is probably smarter than the average person.
His accountant of 18 years has built his and his firm’s reputation on doing work for entertainers like Al Franken. They have extensive experience in managing the business requirements of many clients similar to Franken.
One of the easiest parts of their job is to file a corporate tax return in every state that Al Franken performed, did business, generated income or engaged in some type of economic activity.
Forget about the complex nature of how you calculate what taxes Franken may or may not have owed.
The easy part of the job. The part that Franken’s accountant probably does a hundred or so times a year for who knows how many similar clients is simply performing the function of filing a tax return.
This is the most basic service that his firm provides.
The input into what goes into that tax return is not the accountant’s responsbility. That’s the responsibility of the client, in this case, Al Franken.
If Al Franken doesn’t provide the input — or, the economic activity that needed to be reported in a corporate tax return — Al Franken’s accountant doesn’t know if Al Franken had income in any particular state.
Al Franken’s accountant is not the guy scheduling Al Franken. He’s not the guy getting Al Franken to said event that is generating economic activity. And, he is not calling up Franken everyday and asking, “Hey, Al, where did you work yesterday so I can figure out if I have to file a tax return in that state.”
It’s incomprehensible that Al Franken — after 30 years in this business — after spending 18 years working with his accountant — never once asked, “Hey, Chanzis, do we need to pay taxes anywhere else?”
It is unbelievable that Al Franken never once — in 30 years — in 18 years of working with Chanzis never said, “Hey, I bumped into my buddy Michael Moore and he said his accountant makes sure he files corporate tax returns in just about any state his company is doing business…are you making sure my taxes are being filed right”
To believe Al Franken never once asked about tax obligations in another state — to believe Al Franken never once wondered about who was filling out tax forms in not one, two or three states…but more than 15 different states — is to believe that human beings were born without a brain.
If I am Al Franken’s accountant, whose entire reputation is on the line because Al Franken is accusing me of not being competent to perform the single, most basic service of my firm — I am not going to stay quiet a whole lot longer.
I suspect Franken’s accountant and his firm are getting a number of calls from other clients saying, “Hey, Franken says you screwed up his taxes and got him into trouble because you didn’t do your job — did you get me into trouble, too?”
The bloom is going to come off the rose soon for the Franken strategy of deflecting attention away from himself to his accountant.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Q. What did President George Bush say when Ron Carey asked him if he should let fly now, with the income tax news, or wait until later?
A. GWB said, “Bring it on.”
May 1st, 2008 at 10:58 pm
AL Franken=Looser We knew it when he stole from a Boys and Girls Club to pay his FAT salary on Air America radio. After that, what can be worse? Tax cheat,…… no surprise.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Five years ago today, George Bush announced, “Mission accomplished”.
How is that statement holding up?
May 1st, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Bush is through and Franken is toast. …
May 1st, 2008 at 11:48 pm
If this wasn’t anything more than a simple accounting error why wouldn’t Franken’s Corporation (rather than Franken’s campaign) demand that the accountant “be honest” rather than “be silent?”
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 am
MBB has written that it has been a tough few days for Team Franken.
Then he seemed to switch to the Franken Campaign.
Then according to Dumbing It Down For the Left’s #14 Post, why isn’t MBB then not writing more about the Franken CORPORATION, rather than TEAM Franken or the Franken CAMPAIGN?
It seems to be a three-legged stool: CORPORATION, TEAM, CAMPAIGN. MBB/MDE-IRS takes their pick.
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:15 am
Say, Dumb and Dumber?
Let’s look at what republiCon Ron said, for guidance at what’s acceptable, shall we?
“We’ve looked at all the issues that he raised, and where there was corrective action required, we took corrective action,” Carey said. “Dwight and I came to a mutual, amicable agreement for our separation.”
Well, there you have it! The answer to WWrR (What Would republiCon Ron) Say!!!!
“corrective action” has been taken. End of story. Next!!!
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:59 am
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/05/020426.php
Scott has a good point. You shouldn’t blame the accountant and then not let him defend himself publicly. You should only ask him to be silent if you take all the blame.
And who is Monifa Benison? How does she figure into this?
Let’s raise our glasses to TOAST Al Franken’s efforts so far!
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:06 am
Franken is an entertainer, although admittedly not a very talented one. We also know he was a failure as a talk show host.
Still, it’s entertaining as all getout, watching him squirm and twist in the wind due to his tax evasion attempts. Way to go, Albert!
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:16 am
“the fundamentals of being a Republican – less government, individual freedom, personal responsibility, strong national defense.”
these are not republican values, these are Democratic values. You should pay more attention to what is going on around you.
Republicans live with a conservative fear of change, spend our money without asking, use the military for offensive actions, deny citizen their rights and ignore poverty and the disabled. They are a self serving machine that believes the government is theres to do as they please without concern of their actions. Wake up people!
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:39 am
Ed – I think you are the one who needs the wake up call. Look at any professional analysis of Repbulican values, and they ALL say, “less government, individual freedom, personal responsibility, strong national defense.” Regardless of who wrote them.
Then go look up the definition of a Democrap…and they ALL say, “more government! More! More! More, please!! prefer to be herded like sheep rather than making our own decisions, carefree living and no responsibility whatsoever, and we don’t support our armed forces, either. If we ever get attacked, we’ll just throw our dried up sheep turds at them!”
ED – GET REAL!! You need to look up the definition of “Republican” vs. “Democrat” on Wiki, or something. How can you BE so uneducated?
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:48 am
You’re doing this whole blog like no Republicans have ever been guilty of having tax problems or other crimes or misdemeanors. If you really had integrity and were really trying to do something of benefit to the United States as a whole you would be going after any politician who was guilty of wrongdoing, which you are not. You have no integrity and it has been political hacks like you who have been dragging this country down for years now. It has to stop. Your lack of patriotism to this nation is appalling. You support “The Party” more that you do the nation as a whole. Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Republican America are all places where a segment of the population lives and breathes for the good of “The Party” – not a good club to be in. You are helping to make the world a worse place for your own kids! Hate, ignorance, and partisanship for the sake of the few over the many is not a family value, but then again people like you know nothing about real family values. You only know the fear- and hate-based trash spewed by scumbag Republican strategists like Karl Rove. Franken did ask his accountant about paying taxes in other states and he was given bad advice from his accountant. I’m sure you could use your dubious talents and find a similar situation with a lot of Republicans, if not all Republicans. I’m sure you won’t be doing any of that, though.
Okay, jokerboy, since you obviously don’t have any integrity a lot of other people, including me, are going to go at you and all of your other ignorant Republican lackeys!! You’ve done enough damage to this nation and the world! Your lies, garbage, and fear are not going to work anymore. They never should have in the United States of America, Republicans are for individual freedom?!?! Are you insane?!?! Is that why they want to spy on everyone and put everyone in jail for plaintiff-less crimes such as drugs while they tear down institutions of democracy and enrich themselves and their buddies through rampant corruption? Wake up, son. The Republicans are for smaller government in relation to business and economic regulation only; you know, the type of thing that prevents major economic problems like huge stock market crashes in the late 1920s and housing market crash of today. Those aspects of government are what the Republicans are trying to do away with. At the same time, if you had been paying attention for the last 25+ years it would be obvious to you that the Republicans have been trying to push themselves into the daily lives of private citizens. We have the biggest police state in the world. This is smaller government, individual freedom, and personal responsibility? We have more people in jail than apartheid South Africa or the former Soviet Union. How do you possibly reconcile your Republican-created viewpoint with what really happens everyday? How can you be fooled so easily and so willingly?
What GOOD for this nation have people like you and Rush Limbaugh ever done? Can you name anything? I’m not talking about beating others down, I’m talking about something good and positive for the whole nation, not just what one ignorant segment of the population incorrectly perceives as being good. Have you or Rush or any of the pinheads on Fox ever done anything WORTHWHILE like focus on real issues? I really hope you can come up with one actual instance for me to salvage your own humanity and usefulness to society.
Yes, everyone knows that there are plenty of non-Republicans that do bad things. However, you are only focusing on the Democrats when recent history has shown beyond any shadow of a doubt to someone who wants to see the real truth that the Republicans are guilty of a LOT more malfeasance and have violated their fiduciary trust to a much higher degree than any non-Republicans, even the Democrats. Stop being part of the problem and try to promote truth instead of “The Party”.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:01 am
Where in any of the budgets ever passed by George Bush or Tim Pawlenty do you find less government?
Where in the republican mantra against gay marriage, stem cell research and abortion do you find individual freedom?
Where, in the aftermath of the I-35 tragedy did you find any republican taking personal responsibility for unwise transportation tax policy? Where are all our combat ready troops that republicans believe are a part of a strong national defense?
I guess what I am saying is that the republican party in theory is much different than the one we all know, and that is why the party continues to shrink.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:06 am
Looks like Bush, Rove, et al. are not showing the Republicans that take office the movie about drinking and driving. Another one bites the dust! The party of Larry Craig continues to show the country their strong moral fiber.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:06 am
This has been a great year for politics. Democrats are finally getting a taste of what they have dished out over the last 30 years or so. They lie they make false accusation(of republicans) then demand apologies and retirement. Whats funny though is republicans don’t have to mak false accusations, it’s all true from Obamma’s preacher to Hillary (nuff said) to Al the name caller Frakenberry. Lets face facts the chickens are coming home to roost.
Nice Blog!
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:17 am
This is all right out of the Carl Rove play book of character assination. If you can’t present a valid candidate or good policy ideas, you just keep the focus on issues the voters are sick of hearing about. How about we talk about some real issues of concern for voters.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:29 am
Wow, welcome aboard to Ed, Nick, John V and a few of the other deranged moonbats who’ve discovered the site. Your an inspiration to anyone fighting to keep you idiots from governing anything larger than an ant mound.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:40 am
Al Franken is a despicable person. I walked out on his presentation to a group of executives at a conference 12 years ago in Palm Springs. I’m surprised more people didn’t, once Franken’s expletives started rolling off his forked tongue. What I mind about this guy is his complete lack of integrity. He tells everyone else what’s wrong with them, but his own ship is loaded with bilge. Does anyone like Franken as a human being? Or are they all just laughing at him. Franken reminds me of the Homer’s Theosites. The guy everyone used to beat up on the playground. He couldn’t do anything but open is big, fat mouth. Try kicking a ball and he would fall on his ass. Why don’t people see though this fraud and pompous Harvard putz.
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Two words:
Vito Fossella
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Now in addition to dolt #1 and #2, we have #3, 4, 5 6 and 7 weighing in.
Heh, looks like the moonbats have suddenly noticed that MDE has dropped a fat duece into their kool-aid bowl.