By JP Carroll
Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders are losing it on social media over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s connection to the file leaks from a major Panama law firm.
Reporters for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in conjunction with several global media outlets leaked the names of companies and people with major offshore cash. Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca registered various politicos connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, for example, and major firms as clients.
Bernie supporters are claiming Clinton is partly responsible for this because of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed by the U.S. with Panama while Clinton was secretary of state.
Sanders supporters are eagerly pointing out that Sanders was one of 22 senators to oppose the FTA with Panama because the Central American country is a known tax haven.
By having an agreement with the U.S., regulators are “effectively barred … from cracking down on questionable activities,” according to International Business Times. If the U.S. chooses to actively investigate Panamanian finance laws, “it could be exposed to fines from international authorities.”
One user on Reddit posted a Youtube video with Sanders opposing the trade deal back in 2011, referring to Panama as “a tax haven.” The title of the post is, “Bernie’s incredible foresight regarding #PanamaPapers… he knew about it FIVE YEARS ago!”
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