Mnuchin parties with Trump donors after illegally hiding Trump's taxes
Mnuchin is part of Trump’s culture of corruption.
A day after officially blocking Congress from getting access to Trump’s taxes, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin gave a speech to wealthy Republican donors to Trump’s reelection campaign.
The Washington Post reports that Mnuchin attended the gathering on Tuesday for the Trump Victory Committee, held at the scandal-plagued Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Just the day before, Mnuchin refused a legitimate congressional request for Trump’s taxes. Legal scholars say this was a clear violation of federal law, which clearly states that the treasury secretary must give Congress tax records when they are requested.
About 200 “bundlers” — ultra-wealthy donors who collect donations from their wealthy network to give to Trump’s campaign and to the Republican Party — were at the event. Mike Pence and Kellyanne Conway spoke at the meeting, as did RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale.
It’s a distasteful look for Mnuchin to party with Trump’s campaign donors while he’s working as Trump’s henchman to thwart Congress and the rule of law.
This is especially the case after the New York Times obtained some of Trump’s taxes, and found in a story published Tuesday evening that Trump had lost $1 billion over 10 years. This contradicts claims he’s made about his wealth and his businesses, and raises questions about what else Trump hasn’t been honest about in his finances.
What’s more, Mnuchin wasn’t just helping to raise money for the campaign — he was also rubbing shoulders with executives from the financial industry that the Treasury Department regulates.
“Treasury secretaries in recent years have avoided attending fundraiser events with people they could be tasked with regulating, in part because of their unique role in overseeing a broad swath of companies in the financial system,” the Post noted.
Trump and members of his administration have a pattern of choosing corruption over ethical behavior.
“There’s a legitimate concern that people may get the impression that they can get not just on Trump’s good side but the treasury secretary’s good side by donating or raising money for his campaign,” Washington University School of Law ethics professor Kathleen Clark told the Post.
The Trump campaign has indicated it intends to build a $1 billion war chest for the 2020 election — some of which is likely to end up in Trump’s own pockets because his campaign tends to spend money at the properties and businesses Trump owns.
Mnuchin is enabling that corruption, instead of acting as a public servant who swore an oath to defend the Constitution.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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