New Allegations Of Trump Using His Foundation Illegally To Evade Taxes

David Farenthold of the Washington Post has another blockbuster article on the Trump Foundation which again raises the possibility that Trump has been engaging in tax evasion. The article states that businesses that owed a combined $2.3 million to Donald Trump were instructed to donate those fees to the Trump Foundation instead. The $2.3 million came from two sources - an appearance fee from Comedy Central for $400,000 and $1.9 million from ticket scalper to the richest 1%, Richard Ebers.

According to tax experts, if those companies were instructed to donate, then Trump would still be liable for paying taxes on that income even though the money went to charity. The only way for Trump to avoid paying taxes on that income would be to renounce the fees and then suggest a donation be made to the charity of the other party's choice. Of course, if Trump actually did that, another option would be for the other party to simply keep the money if they chose not to donate to any charity at all. At first, the Trump campaign initially denied that the transactions took place. Then they said that Trump waived the fees and suggested the other party make a donation to the charity of their choice. When confronted with evidence suggesting the other parties had, in fact, been instructed to donate to the Trump Foundation, the campaign then said that Trump had paid taxes on the $400,000 Comedy Central donation but had no comment on the Ebers' donations other than saying, "To my knowledge, Mr. Trump has followed all applicable rules and regulations".

The $2.3 million is about half of the money donated to the Trump Foundation since Trump's last personal donation in 2008 and explains why people other than Trump have been contributing to the Trump Foundation since then. The article contains no conclusive proof that Trump has evaded taxes but Farenthold's sources are saying the payments were directed which contradicts what the Trump campaign is saying. And Lynne Patton, an executive at Eric Trump's charity, seemed to corroborate in an earlier statement what Farenthold's sources are also reporting, that Trump would direct the fees be paid to his charity. Of course, this could all be cleared up in one minute if Trump would release his taxes. I wonder why he hasn't.