Former IRS attorney writes op-ed urging IRS to investigate Trump

BY JOHN BOWDEN - 06/16/18 09:01 AM EDT

A former IRS attorney is urging the agency to open an investigation into the Trump Foundation, President Trump's personal charitable foundation that Trump has used in the past for questionable uses including to settle lawsuits against his golf clubs.

In an op-ed for The New York Times, Philip Hackney argues that Trump could be prosecuted for evading taxes on some of his "self-dealing" payments, as well as making false statements on tax filings.

"The government could anchor a tax evasion and false statement case upon the multiple instances of self-dealing, as cataloged by the New York attorney general, between Mr. Trump and the foundation," Hackney wrote. "The attorney general details occasions when Mr. Trump directed the foundation to acquire expensive things like paintings of himself for himself."

"Each of these self-dealing transactions probably subjected Mr. Trump to a 10 percent tax applied to the value of the transaction. In addition, he may owe other excise taxes and penalties," he added.

The case would be complicated, however, by Trump's argument that his lawyers handle all or most of the Foundation's tax filings, while he has said in the past that he "hopes" the filings are correct.

more
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/392595-former-irs-attorney-writes-op-ed-urging-irs-to-investigate-trump