Billionaire blight on humanity Betsy DeVos continued to show anyone who watched the confirmation hearing that besides being mind-bendingly incompetent, she’s also wearing pants that are on fire. Mother Jones put together a very good article outlining DeVos, her insanely scary religious family and the school voucher programs she espouses as part of her belief that one day we will all either be in hell or heaven. In the Mother Jones piece, you will find this section on the DeVos family’s relationship with hate group Focus on the Family:
• Focus on the Family: Both the DeVoses and the Princes have been key supporters of Focus on the Family, which was founded by the influential evangelical leader James Dobson. In a 2002 radio broadcast, Dobson called on parents in some states to pull their kids out of public schools, calling the curriculum "godless and immoral" and suggesting that Christian teachers should also leave public schools: "I couldn't be in an organization that's supporting that kind of anti-Christian nonsense." Dobson also has distributed a set of history lessons that argue that "separating Christianity from government is virtually impossible and would result in unthinkable damage to the nation and its people." The Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation gave $275,000 to Focus on the Family from 1999 to 2001 but hasn't donated since; it gave an additional $35,760 to the group's Michigan and DC affiliates from 2001 to 2010. The Prince Foundation donated $5.2 million to Focus on the Family and $275,000 to its Michigan affiliate from 2001 to 2014. (It also gave $6.1 million to the Family Research Council, which has fought against same-sex marriage and anti-bullying programs—and is listed as an "anti-LGBT hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The FRC used to be a division of Focus on the Family before it became an independent nonprofit, with Dobson serving on its board, in 1992.)
When being grilled by Senator Al Franken, DeVos made sure to point out that she didn’t believe in things like conversion therapy and was an equal rights and no-discrimination champion. When Senator Margaret Hassan (D-NH) decided to bring up the Edgar and Elsie Prince Foundation, Betsy’s parents’ foundation, DeVos quickly dismissed any real connection saying that it was her “mother’s foundation.”
Hassan: And you sit on the board.
DeVos: I do not.
Hassan: You do not?
DeVos: No.
This is interesting news! The Intercept’s Jeremy Scahill, who wrote a book about DeVos’s husband’s family and Blackwater, began tweeting how insane DeVos’s statement that she had “nothing to do with” her mother’s foundation was, presenting the fact that Betsy was listed as a “Vice President” for a few years on her “mother’s foundation.”
Hassan clearly was able to get those 990s to show that Betsy DeVos was vice president on paper for many years, and was given a small amount of time at the end to bust DeVos on this reality.
Hassan: I just want to clarify the issue of whether you were on the board of your mother’s foundation. I have 990s up through 2013 where you are listed as the Vice President and a board member, so was that just a mistake on your part?
DeVos: That was a clerical error. I can assure you I have never made decisions on my mother’s behalf on her foundation [sic] board.
That’s lying to Senate.
You can watch the first lie, followed by being busted and then continuing to lie right here.