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January 18, 2017

Did Betsy DeVos Lie to Senate About Her Involvement in Family Foundation?
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Confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet
nominations continue on Capitol Hill. On Tuesday, education secretary
nominee Betsy De Vos faced intense questioning by Democratic senators
over her role in her family's foundations, which have poured millions of
dollars into funding private Christian schools and anti-LGBT
organizations, including the groups Focus on the Family and the Family
Research Council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has listed as an
"anti-LGBT hate group." This is New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan.

Sen. Maggie Hassan: "I understand that there is a foundation, the Edgar
and Elsa Prince Foundation, which I take it is a foundation named for
your parents. Is that correct?"

Betsy De Vos: "It's my mother's foundation."

Sen. Maggie Hassan: "It's your mother's foundation. And you sit on the
board."

Betsy De Vos: "I do not."

Sen. Maggie Hassan: "You do not?"

Betsy De Vos: "No."

Sen. Maggie Hassan: "OK. So when it made its over $5 million donation to
Focus on the Family, you didn't know anything about it."

Betsy De Vos: "My mother makes the decisions for her foundation."

That's Betsy De Vos answering Senator Hassan's questioning. Later in the
confirmation hearing, Senator Hassan again questioned De Vos about her
role in the family foundation.

Sen. Maggie Hassan: "I just wanted to clarify the issue about whether
you were on the board of your mother's foundation. I have 990s up
through 2013 where you're listed as the vice president and a board
member. So, was that just a mistake on your part?"

Betsy De Vos: "That was a clerical error. I can assure you I have never
made decisions on my mother's behalf on her foundation board."

Sen. Maggie Hassan: "So the listing that you were the vice president of
the board is incorrect."

Betsy De Vos: "That is incorrect."

De Vos was listed as the foundation's vice president in federal tax
filings for several years. De Vos is a longtime backer of charter
schools and vouchers for private and religious schools. She and her
husband have also invested in a student debt collection agency that does
business with the Education Department. During Tuesday's hearing,
Washington Senator Patty Murray questioned De Vos about whether she
would privatize education.

Sen. Patty Murray: "Can you commit to us tonight that you will not work
to privatize public schools or cut a single penny from public
education?"

Betsy De Vos: "Senator, thanks for that question. Um, I-I look forward,
if confirmed, to working with you to talk about how we address the needs
of all parents and all students. And we acknowledge today that not all
schools are working for the students that are assigned to them. And I'm
hopeful that we can work together to find common ground in ways that we
can solve those issues and empower parents to make choices on behalf of
their children that are right for them."

Sen. Patty Murray: "I take that as not being willing to commit to not
privatizing public schools or cutting money from education."



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