Last week, the Executive Chairman of Caterpillar sat around a conference table in the White House, joined by President Trump and other heads of industry.
Caterpillar’s executive, Doug Oberhelman, enjoyed a back-and-forth with the president over their D10 machines.
President Trump even asked Oberhelman, “When we raise the dollar, and we let other people manipulate their currencies, it’s the one thing that stops you, Doug – right?”
Oberhelman replied, “We’ll take them on. Bring them on.”
Well someone responded to Caterpillar’s call to “bring them on” and it wasn’t foreign competition.
It was the U.S. Attorney’s Office from Central Illinois teamed up with the IRS, the FDIC and the Department of Commerce who responded with an armed raid of their Peoria, Illinois headquarters.
Caterpillar has been the subject of investigations by the IRS and FDIC over foreign holdings that the industry giant had been fully cooperating over.
The matters are described by the government as a “tax avoidance scheme” something that President Trump has vowed to remedy by lowering the corporate tax rate.
Multi-national corporations are forced to operate across the lines of tax-friendly nations such as Ireland in order to remain competitive in the global market.
However, the holdovers from the Obama administration may very well be attempting to get their last drop of blood from corporate stones before Trump implements new rules.
The meeting between Trump and the Caterpillar head was likely a signal to embedded bureaucrats to take action now or lose the opportunity.
The former U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois was Jim Lewis who resigned on December 24th of 2016.
Lewis was replaced by subordinate, Patrick Hansen, as the Acting United States Attorney until his replacement is appointed by the Trump Administration.
Lewis, who took office in 2010 under President Obama, had been arrested three times in the 60’s as he “promoted voting rights for black citizens.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Patrick Hansen, has served as the Assistant U.S. Attorney in 1997.
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