HuffPost Politics reports that a number of significant donations to the charitable foundations associated with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump may not have been true gifts to the foundations from the original payors but instead payments for services to the now candidates, followed by gifts by Clinton and Trump to the foundations. Quoting three of this blog’s contributing editors (Alice Thomas, Roger Colinvaux, and Nick Mirkay), the article questions whether contributions made in exchange for speeches (Clinton), a Comedy Central appearance (Trump), and other appearances and meetings (Trump) should have instead been treated as income to Clinton and Trump and subsequent contributions by them, not the original payors, to the respective foundations. The author of the article is careful to note that “[n]one of this necessarily means that Trump or Clinton has bilked taxpayers out of revenue” but also says “[m]ore information from both candidates’ camps would be helpful.” This is particularly true given that the two foundations at issue – the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation and the Donald J. Trump Foundation – each have a close relationship with their respective namesakes and have benefitted them in various ways (although all of those benefits may be perfectly legal).
(Photo from original story (Clinton: Mark Makela/Getty Images; Trump: John Gurzinski/AFP/Getty Images).)
UPDATE: The first sentence of this post has been revised to clarify the tax issue raised by the payments.
Lloyd Mayer
