Over the weekend, a landmark report from The New York Times revealed that Donald Trump’s shady tax avoidance maneuvers, desperate indebtedness to foreign entities, and abject conflicts of interest are even worse than many had imagined.

For example:

• Trump appears to be personally responsible for loans totaling $421 million, with much of that debt coming due over the next four years.

• Trump may owe $100 million or more in back taxes, penalties, and interest.

• Trump may have reduced his taxable income by paying his daughter Ivanka exorbitant “consulting fees” at the same time she was employed by his corporation.

• Trump paid NO income taxes for 10 of the 15 years before he became president.

• Trump paid just $750 in federal income tax for both 2016 and 2017. That’s not a typo. This supposed “billionaire” paid far less in taxes than most working Americans do — less than someone who earns $75,000 a year would pay every month.

And on and on and on.

Never mind his fair share. Donald Trump barely pays ANY share.

Trump’s tax records show how profound his conflicts of interest — which we have been campaigning against since the moment he was elected — are.

And they expose a vulnerability to unnamed creditors — quite possibly foreign — that puts our entire country in jeopardy.

Challenging corruption, promoting the rule of law, and advocating for tax justice are just a few of the reasons it’s so important for Public Citizen to be as strong as we possibly can be over the months ahead and into next year.

If you can, please donate today.

See my earlier note (copied below in case you missed it) for more about the critical fundraising deadline we’re up against.

Thank you.

- Robert

*****

Please take a minute to read through this update.

We are less than 63 34 hours from a make-or-break deadline.

How things go between now and midnight Wednesday will directly impact how aggressive Public Citizen can be in the months ahead — including what may be the most consequential election in our lifetimes and what would amount to a coup d’etat if Donald Trump tries to remain in office by denying the results.

Why?

Because Public Citizen’s fiscal year ends at midnight this Wednesday, September 30.

Now, the phrase “fiscal year ends at midnight” is admittedly no “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

This is an absolutely pivotal moment nonetheless.

Like many nonprofits and businesses, Public Citizen operates on what accountants call a “fiscal year” that is different from the calendar year (for a variety of reasons related to bookkeeping, taxes, and the like).

What it means, in a nutshell, is that we’re about to close the books on one “year” and begin the next.

Historically, then, the last few days of September have been rivaled only by the last few days of December when it comes to the online donations that are essential to powering the work you and Public Citizen do together.

(And remember, we guard our independence by refusing “help” from Big Business and Uncle Sam. Everything this shared project called Public Citizen gets done is possible thanks to everyday people who chip in what they can at junctures like this.)

But we are facing some hard realities this time around:

• People are contributing to political campaigns as we rush toward an election that could literally make the difference between the survival of democracy in America or our descent into outright authoritarianism.

• People are tightening up their budgets given the financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus emergency and the Trump Administration’s catastrophic failure to address the pandemic and its economic fallout.

• And no doubt you’re getting emails from other organizations noting September 30 as a deadline for one reason or another. (Perhaps with gimmicks like ALL-CAPS subject lines, garish formatting, gratuitous graphics, misleading “membership status” alerts, and more.)

So if this is not a good time for you to donate to Public Citizen, we understand.

But if you can, please contribute right now.

Your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a group of longtime supporters.

And if you join our popular Monthly Giving program today — to help provide the dependable resources it takes to keep fighting — your monthly contribution will be matched dollar-for-dollar every month for one full year!

Donate today.

It really does matter.

Thank you.
 
 
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