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From NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann
With less than eight until Election Day, it looks like Donald Trump will be successful in not releasing his tax returns, becoming the first presidential nominee we can remember not doing so. But it’s becoming harder and harder for him to avoid releasing them. First is the news that New York’s Democratic attorney general has launched an inquiry into the Trump Foundation (the Trump campaign has called in a “left-wing hit job”). Second was the Washington Post’s investigative piece noting that most of the Trump Foundation money comes from other people’s money; that Trump passes the money to other charities and takes credit for it; and that he has used that money to buy himself a gift. (“One candidate’s family foundation has saved countless lives around the world,” President Obama said on the campaign trail yesterday. “The other candidate’s foundation took money other people gave to his charity and then bought a six-foot-tall painting of himself.”) And third is a new Newsweek article detailing how Trump’s international business ties could become a significant conflict of interest if he becomes president. Any conventional politician would be feeling the heat here; of course, Trump isn’t your conventional politician. But every day that goes by with Trump not releasing his taxes suggests that these is something to all of these stories. |
