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The chief executive of FedEx blasted a New York Times investigation detailing how the company wiped out its tax bill as an "outrageous distortion of the truth" and then challenged its publisher to a debate on federal tax policy. CEO Fred Smith did not specify any particular errors in the report, which said the shipping giant's tax bill went from $1.5 billion in 2017 to zero in 2018 after President Donald Trump's tax cuts slashed FedEx's effective tax rate from 34 percent to less than zero. The tax cuts, which Smith lobbied for extensively, was framed as a means of spurring business investment, but FedEx apparently has done the opposite. It spent less on capital investments in 2018 than it did the year before and even less in 2019, according to the Times, and instead has funneled most of those savings back to shareholders through buybacks and dividends. Smith condemned the Times' report in a Sunday night statement as "factually incorrect" without elaboration and made his unusual demand. … [Read more...] about FedEx CEO challenges New York Times publisher to a debate after tax investigation

New York (CNN Business)FedEx CEO Fred Smith attacked the New York Times for its story about his company's taxes, and he challenged the newspaper's publisher. The Times on Sunday ran a front-page story, "How FedEx Cut Its Tax Bill to $0," in which it said that FedEx's (FDX) work in favor of the 2017 corporate tax cut allowed the delivery company to eliminate its federal taxes the following year. The story said the tax cut did not result in increased investment by either FedEx or businesses overall, as Smith and other advocates of the tax bill vowed would happen if it passed. Smith issued a statement calling the article "distorted and factually incorrect," although he did not detail what in the story was inaccurate. FedEx reported its total income taxes were $1.6 billion in the fiscal year ending May 31, 2017, but it had a negative income tax bill, or a credit, of $219 million in the fiscal year ending May of 2018. Its most recent fiscal year reported income taxes of $115 million. … [Read more...] about FedEx CEO challenges the New York Times to a debate after critical story

TEL AVIV — A Russian translator who worked on behalf of the State Department, including during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, was reportedly present at the June meeting at Trump Tower with President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr. On Friday, the New York Times reported that Rinat Akhmetshin, a U.S. lobbyist and former Soviet military serviceman, was present for the brief meeting with Trump Jr.Akhmetshin identified an individual named Anatoli Samachornov as being the Russian translator who was present at the meeting at which Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya reportedly argued against the Magnitsky Act, which sanctions Russian officials. The meeting was reportedly presented to Trump Jr. as being about information regarding Hillary Clinton. Veselnitskaya reportedly does not speak English and has given interviews to U.S. news media outlets through translators in recent weeks. Samachornov would not confirm to the New York Times that he was … [Read more...] about New York Times Omits Clinton State Department Link to Trump Jr. Meeting

(CNN)President Donald Trump has backed away from a proposal to ban flavored e-cigarettes, The New York Times reported Sunday. A Trump campaign adviser told CNN's Jim Acosta that Trump's political aides, including campaign manager Brad Parscale, have warned him that such a ban may not be helpful with his base and that he should reconsider. Trump was persuaded by advisers to back off the proposal during a November 4 flight to a political rally in Kentucky, the Times said. Following the conversation with advisers, the newspaper reported that Trump canceled the administration's planned announcement that was scheduled for the next day. The planned news conference, which would have included Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, was canceled and another meeting was proposed, according to the report. Asked about the Times' story, White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere told CNN in a statement, "President Trump and this Administration are committed to responsibly protecting … [Read more...] about New York Times: Trump backs off flavor ban for e-cigarettes

Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the New York Times, has lashed out at President Donald Trump in a newly-released interview, accusing him of putting the newspaper’s reporters’ in harm’s way by branding them as “enemies of the people.” “I think his personal attacks on reporters, including Maggie [Haberman], are pretty awful and pretty unpresidential,” Baquet told The Guardian. “I think personal attacks on journalists, when he calls them names, I think he puts their lives at risk.“I think that when he actually calls reporters names, says they’re un-American, says they’re enemies of the people… that phrase has a deep history. I think when he says that, it is an appalling attack on the press,” he added. Pressed whether he believes the president is racist, Baquet, the Times’ first African-American executive editor, said: “I don’t know.” “I … [Read more...] about New York Times Executive Editor: Trump Puts Our Journalists’ Lives at Risk