Subject: What Is Donald Trump Hiding? — Medium
From: "Dillon, Lauren" <[email-masked]>
To: Comm_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 May 2016 20:52:06 -0700

By the RD at Priorities

https://medium.com/@PatrickJMcHugh/what-is-donald-trump-hiding-a6240cb08950#.s3y0tmhfu

What Is Donald Trump Hiding?
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By now you have probably heard that<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ed853e2f84bd42658868a42f997c93fe/ap-interview-donald-trump-says-hes-narrowed-vp-shortlist> Donald Trump, in an interview with the Associated Press, “dismissed the idea that voters have a right to see his tax returns before going to the polls,” claiming, “there’s nothing to learn from them.”

I beg to differ.

I will put aside, for a moment, the fact that Donald Trump is lying<http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/02/26/donald-trump-internal-revenue-service-audits/80996086/> when he says<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/04/01/former-irs-commissioner-trump-could-release-his-old-tax-returns-if-he-wanted-to/?tid=a_inl> that a supposed IRS audit prevents him from releasing his tax returns, OR the fact that Trump said he wouldn’t hesitate<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze4xLczDexc&feature=youtu.be> like Mitt Romney to release his tax returns and even complained<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/205707-trump-romney-botched-income-tax-issue-gingrich-win-amazing> that Romney took so long to release them in 2012, OR the fact that Trump said he “wouldn’t have a problem” releasing them back in 1999<https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/during-1999-run-trump-vowed-to-release-his-tax-returns?utm_term=.hfyx0vD55B#.scj0eKwLLB>, OR the fact that Trump had no problem<http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/11/politics/donald-trump-casino-licenses-tax-returns/index.html> handing over his tax returns despite audits when his gambling licenses were on the line, OR the fact that Trump would basically be the first<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/11/donald-trump-is-building-a-giant-beautiful-wall-between-america-and-his-tax-returns/> presidential nominee to refuse to release their tax returns since 1972, OR even the fact that Richard Nixon, the “I am not a crook” guy, released his tax returns despite an audit<http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/11/pf/taxes/nixon-trump-tax-returns/>.

While that is a long run-on sentence to put aside, the key question is this: what can the American people learn from Donald Trump’s tax returns that he doesn’t want us to know? Let’s explore:

1. To what degree is he lying about how much he is worth?

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It’s not a question of whether Trump is fudging the numbers when he claims that he is worth “TEN BILLION DOLLARS,” — it’s a question of by how much and his tax returns would tell us the truth. Trump even admitted<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/11/donald-trump-is-building-a-giant-beautiful-wall-between-america-and-his-tax-returns/> that tax returns are a good measure of someone’s success — when asked about Romney’s tax returns in 2012, he said, “I actually think that it’s a great thing when you can show that you’ve been successful…I actually think that it’s a positive.”

Financial experts<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-28/here-s-our-tally-of-donald-trump-s-wealth> have questioned<http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2015/06/16/trump-exaggerating-his-net-worth-by-100-in-presidential-bid/#3ed282a61a24> Trump’s claims of self-worth (and let’s be honest, it’s pretty clear from the way that he acts that he has some self-worth questions of his own). It’s clearly a sensitive subject for The Donald — he even sued<https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/that-time-trump-sued-over-the-size-of-hiswallet/2016/03/08/785dee3e-e4c2-11e5-b0fd-073d5930a7b7_story.html> a reporter who questioned his grandiose claims. He lost.

The only way to know the truth? His tax returns.<http://fortune.com/2016/03/02/donald-trump-tax-returns-income/>

2. How much money does Trump personally give to charity?

In March 2016, the Trump campaign claimed that Donald Trump has donated more than $100 MILLION to charity<http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/03/politics/donald-trump-charity/> over the last five years when specifically asked whether or not Trump would release his tax returns. A month later, the campaign released a list of contributions that purportedly came from Trump. But one thing was missing — “not a single one of those donations was actually a personal gift of Trump’s own money,” reported the Washington Post.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-portrait-of-trump-the-donor-free-rounds-of-golf-but-no-personal-cash/2016/04/10/373b9b92-fb40-11e5-9140-e61d062438bb_story.html> Additionally, the Associated Press<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/436328daf9ef488fb334159df5e3192b/proof-trumps-charity-giving-elusive> reported that “the Donald J. Trump foundation show Trump has made no charitable contributions to his own namesake nonprofit since 2008” and that he “may be counting other people’s charitable giving as his own.” The only way to know the truth? His tax returns.

3. How low is Donald Trump’s tax rate and how much would he save from his own tax plan?

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Trump has admitted<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-i-pay-as-little-as-possible-in-taxes/>, “I pay as little as possible” in taxes. Just how little? His tax returns would tell us.

Another important thing that only his tax returns would tell us — exactly how much Trump would personally save if his ludicrous tax plan is enacted. There is no question that Trump’s tax plan would be great for Trump by slashing taxes for millionaires by $3 TRILLION<http://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/millionaires-would-gain-trillions-under-trump-and-cruz-tax-plans>, but how are the American people supposed to know how much he would save from his plan that would add $34 TRILLION<http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/2000560-an-analysis-of-donald-trumps-tax-plan.pdf> in debt over the next two decades? His tax returns.

4. Does Trump have “hidden inappropriate associations with foreign entities, criminal organizations, or other unsavory groups?”

Mitt Romney asked that question<http://www.businessinsider.com/mitt-romney-donald-trump-tex-returns-2016-5> yesterday. It’s a good one to ask Donald Trump. Why?

Trump has a long<http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/mar/02/ted-cruz/yes-donald-trump-has-been-linked-mob/> long<http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/31/politics/trump-mob-mafia/> long<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/05/26/inside-donald-trumps-empire-why-he-wont-run-for-president.html> long<http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/donald-trump-advisor-ties-mafia-article-1.2461229> long<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/shady-past-of-ex-donald-trump-business-partner-in-focus/> long<https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-challenged-over-ties-to-mob-linked-gambler-100050602.html> long<http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/memory-lapse-trump-seeks-distance-advisor-past-ties/story?id=34600826> history of doing business with some pretty unsavory characters including associates who have been linked to the mob. Ted “Lucifer” Cruz even speculated<http://www.businessinsider.com/ted-cruz-donald-trump-tax-returns-mafia-2016-2> that “Trump might be delaying the release of his tax returns because of possible ties with the mob.”

Furthermore, Ed Rogers<https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/04/13/what-we-need-to-know-about-trumps-wealth-and-taxes/> and Ruth Marcus<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/every-presidential-candidate-should-release-full-tax-returns/2016/04/12/e79af5b4-00c2-11e6-9d36-33d198ea26c5_story.html> of the Washington Post pointed out that “Trump could very well be snagged by evidence that he was involved in offshore tax avoidance schemes similar to those currently in the headlines because of the Panama Papers leak.”

How can the American people know whether or not Trump has done business with unsavory organizations and people, or whether or not he has been involved “in offshore tax avoidance schemes?” His tax returns.

5. Exactly how much money has Trump made from ventures like Trump University, which is currently being sued for fraud,<http://fortune.com/2016/03/08/trump-university-financial-elder-abuse-charges/> or Trump Network, which was described as a “pyramid scheme<http://www.nationalreview.com/article/432468/donald-trump-networks-failure-harmed-small-investors>,” or all the products that he made overseas?

Donald Trump is currently embroiled in fraud lawsuits<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/trump-university-profits-220595> over Trump University, which charged students as much as $35,000 but awarded no actual degree<https://www.yahoo.com/news/with-gop-nomination-looming-trump-slated-to-take-191550876.html>s. New York’s Attorney General claimed that Trump pocketed as much as $5 million<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/trump-university-profits-220595> from the scheme, “but Trump has been vague about how much he made from the company.”

And what about Trump Network, a venture that convinced people to buy and sell nutritional supplements? Trump personally promised that it would allow people a way to “opt out of the recession.”<http://www.nationalreview.com/article/432468/donald-trump-networks-failure-harmed-small-investors> Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

And, finally, how much has Trump made from all the ties, dress shirts, cufflinks, and even Trump teddy bears that he has made in China<http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-admits-gear-made-china-labels/story?id=13472355>, Bangladesh<http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-decries-outsourcing-family-brand-manufactured-abroad/story?id=37502012>, Honduras<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-decries-outsourced-labor-yet-he-didnt-seek-made-in-america-in-2004-deal/2016/03/13/4d65a43c-e63a-11e5-b0fd-073d5930a7b7_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_trumpimports640p:homepage/story&wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_daily202>, “and other low-wage countries?”

How could we learn how much Trump has made from all these ventures? Wait for it...his tax returns!

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Whew — that’s a YUGE list of things that Donald Trump could be hiding from the American people!

As Mitt Romney said yesterday<http://www.businessinsider.com/mitt-romney-donald-trump-tex-returns-2016-5>, “It is disqualifying for a modern-day presidential nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters.”

Indeed.

Sad!