July 13, 2016
Contact:
Erin Bzymek (MWW)

Your Money Where Your Mouth is:

GOP Donor Puts Up $5 Million Prize for Trump Taxes Release

WASHINGTON, DC (JULY 13, 2016) – An anonymous Republican donor is putting up a $5 million dollar reward to force Donald Trump to release his tax returns just days before the GOP nominates him for President. David Brock announced the terms of the challenge today. Donald Trump continues to railroad the public on releasing his tax returns, recently telling the Associated Press he doesn’t expect to release his returns until after November.
 
“Time and again we’ve seen how Donald Trump is factually challenged, and we can only assume he’s playing fast and loose with the facts on how much he’s paid in taxes, how much he’s worth, how much money he’s made off of potentially fraudulent business schemes, how much he’s given to charity and more until we see his tax returns,” said David Brock. “Every modern presidential candidate has been transparent on this basic hurdle and now Trump has another incentive to do the right thing.”
 
The challenge issued to Trump stipulates that if the campaign releases his tax returns on or before July 15, an anonymous donor will contribute $5 million to a veteran’s charity of Donald Trump’s choice. There is a signed legal commitment from the donor awaiting Donald Trump’s signature. Additionally, a bank-verified letter states the funds are available for this function.
 
The challenge is a high-stakes effort to weave together basic information about a complicated business operation. There are a lot of unanswered questions, including: How much has Trump made off of potentially fraudulent ventures like Trump University; How much has Trump paid in taxes and is he failing to pay his fair share; and How much money has he actually given to charity versus how much money he has said he’s given.
 
“This is a case of what we don’t know will hurt us,” added Brock. “But what we do know about Trump’s taxes show that he’s gone to great lengths to pay as little as possible, meaning that he is avoiding paying his fair share and shifting that burden to middle class families forcing them to pay more.”

In March 2016, the Trump campaign claimed that Trump has donated more than $100 million to 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.
 
In the past 40 years, there hasn’t been a major presidential candidate who refuses to make his or her tax returns public. For at least five years where records are available (1978, 1979, 1984, 1991, and 1993), it appears that Trump paid no federal income taxes. While over the course of her and her husband’s political campaigns, the Clintons have released 33 years of returns. Earlier this year, Hillary Clinton posted her eight most recent years of returns on her campaign website.
 
What has remained consistent throughout the campaign is Donald Trump’s conflicting positions on transparency in this regard. As a private citizen Trump has publicly stated it’s a good idea for presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns, he criticized 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney for his refusal to be more transparent with tax returns, and more recently Trump required this information from all possible vice presidential nominees.
 
###

July 13, 2016

David Brock to Announce Challenge by GOP Donor: $5 Million to Veterans’ Charity if Trump Releases Tax Returns 

WASHINGTON, DC – TODAY at 10 a.m. E.T., David Brock will release the details of a challenge by an anonymous Republican donor to presidential candidate Donald Trump to release his tax returns. If Trump releases the returns, the donor will contribute $5 million to a veteran’s charity of Trump’s choosing. The challenge comes on the heels of recent comments by the candidate saying that he doesn’t expect to release his returns until after November. 
The effort represents an opportunity to fill in some of the unknowns about Trump including how much he has made off of potentially fraudulent ventures and how much he’s actually paid in taxes. Brock will speak on the call about the details of the $5 million challenge that sets a hard deadline for Trump to release his tax returns.

Every major party nominee for a generation has released tax returns, and so have most serious contenders for their party's nomination. What we do know about Trump’s taxes shows that he’s gone to great lengths to pay as little as possible, meaning that he is avoiding paying his fair share and shifting that burden to other taxpayers.