Obama's Chief Vetter Has His Own Tax Problem

Gawker ^ | Feb 27 2009 | Owen Thomas

[COUNTrecount]

White House general counsel Gregory Craig has seized control of Obama's vetting process after a series of nominees with unpaid taxes. But his wife's business may also have avoided taxes. Who vets the vetter?

Derry Noyes, Craig's wife, runs Noyes Graphics, a design business, out of the couple's home in northwest Washington. Between Craig's work and hers, they've been on Washington's A-list for a decade.

PBS's American Stamps aired a profile of her two days ago. She designs specialty postage for the U.S. Postal Service, including a number of notable stamps. One recent series celebrating the work of famous architect Charles Eames was featured in Metropolis. Noyes herself is the daughter of architect Eliot Noyes, a friend of Eames.

Operating a business out of one's home in D.C. requires a home occupation permit and registration with the city's division of corporations. Additionally, the government has instituted a new requirement for business license permits.

A spokesman at the Washington D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs told Gawker that no one has ever sought any kind of permit or registration for a business under the name of Noyes Graphics or at the Craigs' home address. By not registering Craig may have avoided local business taxes.

Private investigator Joseph Culligan looked into business records for Noyes Graphics, which is run out of the Craigs' home, and found Dun & Bradstreet records showing substantial annual sales, a Yellow Pages listing, and an online listing inviting customers to visit the business at her home address (now posted on Webofdeception.com).

And a source within the D.C. government has told Culligan that authorities have begun a full-fledged investigation into Noyes Graphics. (The spokesman would not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.)

An unregistered home business may seem like a "gotcha" scandal. And were some new appointee to come along with this kind of problem, the public might shrug it off, even with the past tax scandals of Obama nominees. But Craig was charged with putting an end to those problems. As Politco explained it:

"A narrative was building, and the president asked us to be more vigilant in the vetting process," said a source involved in the vetting.

Instead of closing a chapter, Craig has become part of the story himself.

[hoosierham]

Evil conservatives evade taxes;liberals only accidentally overlook their taxes.

[zacharycole]

If the Obama administration was a movie plot, the writer would be chastised for exceeding the bounds of credibility by adding this twist to the story. No one would believe that there are this many liberals with ethics problems!

[ballplayer]

The same thing that happens when the Cops are corrupt who watches them .
Now tell me who watched Reno ,who is watching Holder .Thats Right NO ONE

[nj_pilot]

It’s amazing to scroll around that neighborhood on google maps or live.com “bird’s eye” view. Here is a perfect example of what’s wrong. It’s not a democrat or republican thing, it’s a government thing. These are massive houses stuck on combined tear-down lots. It’s an old, leafy neighborhood. Fine. The problem is: the owners of these homes are largely courtiers - DC doesn’t produce much, but these people are well-compensated for what? It’s all about influence peddling.

[A_Former_Democrat]

She is most definitely guilty.