Earlier this week, Hillary Clinton’s Twitter feed included a series of 20 questions for Donald Trump following the release of a Newsweek cover story. Today, Hillary for America released the following requesting answers to those questions:
This week has brought a string of revelations about foreign business entanglements that would create actual conflicts of interest for Donald Trump were he to become president. They’re a reminder of why Trump’s utter lack of transparency and disclosure have become an urgent concern with just over 50 days left in this election.
On a call with reporters yesterday, Hillary for America chair John Podesta called on Trump to disclose all information related to his foreign investments and business dealings, divest his holdings in the Trump Organization to remove these troubling conflicts of interest, and release his tax returns to meet the basic threshold for transparency.
“If Trump is only willing to release information that makes him look good,” Podesta asked, “what else is he hiding?”
Hillary Clinton has 20 questions for Donald Trump, which he is avoiding by not holding a press conference in Washington, D.C. this morning.
This week’s report offers a disturbing preview of the foreign entanglements that could influence Donald Trump, should voters make the grave mistake of electing him president. We now know that over the course of decades, The Trump Organization has been financially involved in more than a dozen countries on five continents — including Russia, Ukraine, Libya, Turkey, China, and Brazil. These new revelations also bring greater urgency to the need for Trump to release his tax returns, so the American people can see his sources of income and what influences he might be subject to.
On Monday evening, Hillary Clinton called in to AC360 on CNN where she was asked by Anderson Cooper about the state of her health. Clinton said that she felt dizzy during yesterday’s September 11 memorial event and left. Following her diagnosis with pneumonia on Friday, she said she was advised to rest. “I was supposed to rest five days — that’s what they told me on Friday — and I didn’t follow that very wise advice,” Clinton said. Cooper then asked Clinton about her transparency about her health asking why she did not inform the public about the illness sooner. Clinton defended herself saying that she did not think it was “going to be that big a deal,” but she added that she has been transparent with releasing medial records last year. The Clinton campaign announced today that additional health records will be released later in the week. The video of Clinton’s interview is below.
This morning, Hillary Clinton attended a ceremony honoring the survivors and victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City. Clinton attended the event for about an hour an half before she left. She was seen stumbling as she got into a van provided by her security detail. Clinton’s campaign told members of the press that she left because she was feeling “overheated” and was taken to Chelsea Clinton’s apartment. She was seen leaving the apartment and returned to her back to her home where she was evaluated by her physician, Dr. Lisa R. Bardack. Dr. Bardack then released the following statement:
“Secretary Clinton has been experiencing a cough related on allergies. On Friday, during a follow up evaluation of her prolonged cough, she was diagnosed with pneumonia. She was put on antibiotic, and advised to rest and modify her schedule. While at this morning’s event, she became overheated and dehydrated. I have just examined her and she is now re-hydrated and recovering nicely.”
Obviously the headline is that Clinton was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday, but the campaign only announced the diagnosis after this morning’s episode. Clinton and her campaign have been criticized for their lack of transparency, and Clinton’s health has been questioned. While the events of the day do nothing to help either case, we wish Clinton a speedy recovery. She is scheduled to campaign on the west coast this week.
In response to Vice Presidential Candidate Mike Pence’s release of his tax returns, HFA Deputy Communications Director Christina Reynolds said:
“We’re pleased to see that one member of the Trump ticket has decided to meet the long-held threshold for disclosure in a modern day presidential campaign. But it’s Donald Trump – who just this week attacked America’s generals and showered praise on Russia’s authoritarian leader – running to be our next president. Trump has continued to hide behind fake excuses to avoid coming clean with the American people, thumbing his nose at a basic level of transparency practiced by every major party nominee since 1976. As prominent Republicans have speculated, Trump’s returns could reveal further ties to Russia and its oligarchs, the truth about his personal wealth, or more lies about his charitable contributions. But we won’t know until we see them. According to a recent poll, more than than six in 10 Republicans are now asking: what is Trump hiding?”
Last month, Tim Kaine released 10 years of tax returns. On the same day, Hillary Clinton released her 2015 personal tax return, building on the Clintons’ tradition of making their returns public since 1977. You can view both Clinton and Kaine’s returns here.
Considering Trump has released his taxes under audit before, and his actions help determine the speed at which the IRS can complete the audit, why won’t Trump release his tax returns and what is he hiding? Here’s a few theories:
Trump may not be worth the $10 billion that he claims
Prominent Republicans question what Trump is hiding in his tax returns:
George Will: “Perhaps one more reason why we’re not seeing his tax returns is because he is deeply involved in dealing with Russian oligarchs.”
Mitt Romney: “Either he’s not anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is” or “There’s a bombshell in Donald Trump’s taxes.”
Mark Sanford: “I Support You, Donald Trump. Now Release Your Tax Returns.”
Is there ANY way to make Trump release his tax returns? Last month, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Member Chris Murphy called for the Senate to vote on their bill, the Presidential Tax Transparency Act, to require presidential nominees to release their tax returns after their conventions.
In the meantime, media, pundits, and Americans across the country continue to challenge Trump to release his tax returns.
On Monday, the FBI announced that its year-long investigation uncovered 15,000 more documents on Hillary Clinton’s private server that had not been turned over by her attorneys. The newly recovered emails have been turned over to the State Department for review. What is unclear at this point, is how many of the emails are work related. Clinton and her legal team admitted that they deleted half of the emails on the server as “personal” and a batch of the emails originally turned over the State Department were returned to Clinton after they were found to be unrelated to work.
In federal court this morning, Judge James E. Boasberg ordered the State Department to review the emails and release them as they have the previous batch of over 55,000 pages. The timeline ordered by the judge means that the first batch of emails will be made public in October on September 13 with more to follow. Clinton has apologized for using a private email server as Secretary of State and that several emails contained classified information that was incorrectly marked. Clinton has cooperated with the investigations conducted by the FBI and State and has said on several occasions that she wants the emails available to the public in the interest of transparency. The newly uncovered emails will be reviewed and released if they are deemed to be work related.
On Thursday, Hillary for America released information and a new television ad calling the lack of tax returns from Donald Trump into question. While Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine have made their tax returns public, Trump has yet to do so. View the ad and read the HFA’s release below.
Donald Trump’s Tax Returns: What’s He Hiding?
For 40 years, major party nominees have publicly released their tax returns – a simple and basic disclosure, made to the American people as they determine which candidate is best fit for the presidency. In accordance with this decades-old tradition, Hillary Clinton has made nearly 40 years of tax returns available to the public over the course of her career, dating back to 1977. You can find the past 9 years of her returns here.
Unfortunately, Donald Trump refuses to release his tax returns, despite his promise in 2014 that he “absolutely” would release them if he ran for president. Watch Trump promise to release his returns here.
TRUMP: “If I decide to run for office, I’ll produce my tax returns, absolutely, and I would love to do that.”
Of course, Trump changed his mind when he actually became a candidate for president.
TRUMP: “I want to release my tax returns but I can’t release it while I’m under an audit.”
Contradicting his own logic, Trump has released his tax returns while under audit in the past – when the disclosure of his tax returns would benefit his business interests – such as his application for a license to open a casino.
CNN: “Donald Trump insists he won’t release his tax returns during his 2016 presidential run because those returns are the subject of ongoing Internal Revenue Service audits. When he’s had casinos on the line, it’s been a different story.”
Further, Trump has the ability to slow down the audit of his tax returns depending on his rate of response to the IRS – meaning he may be able to make his poor excuse, that his audit prevents his tax return disclosure, last as long as he wants.
WSJ: “Donald Trump says he will release his tax returns when an IRS audit concludes… the Republican presidential nominee omits one major point: He and his attorneys have substantial knowledge about when the audit will end and some ability to slow the process.”
Considering Trump has released his taxes under audit before, and his actions determine the speed at which the IRS can complete the audit, why won’t Trump release his tax returns and what is he hiding? Here’s a few theories:
Trump may not be worth the $10 billion that he claims
Prominent Republicans question what Trump is hiding in his tax returns:
George Will: “Perhaps one more reason why we’re not seeing his tax returns is because he is deeply involved in dealing with Russian oligarchs.”
Mitt Romney: “Either he’s not anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is” or “There’s a bombshell in Donald Trump’s taxes.”
Mark Sanford: “I Support You, Donald Trump. Now Release Your Tax Returns.”
Is there ANY way to make Trump release his tax returns? Yesterday, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Member Chris Murphy are calling for the Senate to vote on their bill, the Presidential Tax Transparency Act, to require presidential nominees to release their tax returns after their conventions.
In the meantime, media, pundits, and Americans across the country continue to challenge Trump to release his tax returns.
Tim Kaine was interviewed by Chuck Todd on Sunday’s episode of Meet the Press. During the interview, Kaine defended Hillary Clinton saying that he can “brag” about Clinton’s accomplishments in a way that she will not about herself. He spoke about many of the aspects of her career. Todd asked Kaine about the issue of Clinton’s emails, and he responded by saying that a Clinton administration would be “real transparent.” Kaine was also asked about the fight against ISIS and his thoughts on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. Watch the interview below.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton listens to a question at town hall meeting at White Mountain Community College, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015, in Berlin, N.H. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Today, the State Department released the final batch of emails from Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State. While the State Department had planned to release all of the emails by January 29, they were granted an extension. The final batch of emails released today contained 3,800 pages, bringing the total up to over 52,000 pages. Of the emails turned over by Clinton, 2,100 were withheld for containing information that is now deemed classified. During the announcement today, the State Department also said that none of the emails Clinton sent or received on her private server were marked as classified at the time they were sent. This is something that has repeatedly asserted.
On several occasion, Clinton has said that she wants the emails available to the public in the interest of transparency. News organizations will release quotes from a few of her emails, but anyone can access all of Clinton’s emails. Since the release of the emails is part of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), all the emails are being posted to the State Department’s FOIA website. To access the emails, follow the steps below:
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks about her counterterrorism strategy during a speech at the University of Minnesota Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Today, the State Department released another batch of emails from Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State. Clinton has said on several occasions that she wants the emails available to the public in the interest of transparency. News organizations release quotes from a few of her emails, but anyone can access the latest emails. Since the release of the emails is part of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), all the emails are being posted to the State Department’s FOIA website. To access the emails that have been released so far, follow the steps below:
Click on the arrow next to the “Posted Date” column header and select “Sort Descending” so that the recently released documents show first
Click the title of the document in the “Subject” field to open a PDF copy
This batch of emails includes approximately 5,500 pages, which falls short of the 8,000 page monthly requirement. The State Department said that additional pages will be released next week. According to an FOIA court order, the entire collection of Clinton’s emails should be released by January 29, 2016. For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
MANCHESTER, NH – SEPTEMBER 19: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton raises her arms stands on stage during the New Hampshire Democratic Party Convention at the Verizon Wireless Center on September 19, 2015 in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
On Thursday, Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled her plan to regulate Wall Street and protect Americans. In an op-ed on Bloomberg she explained her plan and her reasoning for a number of its points. She then released details of the plan on The Briefing. The plan is very detailed and it would be impossible to insert the entire plan into this post. We have summarized the main points below:
Defend and preserve Dodd-Frank
Veto any legislation that attempts to weaken the law
Fight Republican attempts to repeal it
Reduce dangerous risks in the financial system
Impose a “risk fee” on the liabilities with of banks with more than $50 billion in assets
Reorganize, downsize, or break apart firms that are too large and too risky
Increase oversight of the “shadow banking” system to reduce risk
Introduce high-frequency trading tax for the stock markets
Impose compensation rules on senior management of banking institutions that suffer losses that threaten its financial health
Strengthen the Vlocker Rule (which prohibits banks from making risky or speculative trading bets with taxpayer-backed money)
Increase transparency in the banking system
Introduce international cooperation to curb excessive risk-taking
Increase the financial system’s security against cyber attacks
Hold individuals and corporations responsible when they break the law or put the system at risk
Ensure individual accountability when prosecuting wrongdoing
Ensure that fines affect the bonuses of executives, supervisors, and employees with misconduct takes place on their watch
Prohibit individuals in financial services from working in the industry after being convicted of egregious crimes
Extend the statute of limitations for financial fraud
Strongly prosecute insider traders
Create guidelines for that ensure transparency and accountability
Require that corporations admit to wrongdoing as a condition of settlement agreements
Increase transparency of corporate settlements
Restrict SEC waivers for repeat offenders
Give prosecutors the resources to punish law-breakers
Strengthen the SEC and CFTC
Increase maximum penalties for SEC and CFTC actions
Reward whistleblowers for bringing illegal activities to attention of authorities
Ensure that the financial systems serves investors and consumers, not just itself
Make sure that Wall Street helps Main Street grow and prosper
Protect all Americans from unfair and deceptive practices that put their earned income at risk
Clinton’s plan protects hard working Americans while ensuring that those who threaten the economy and financial system as a whole are held accountable. You can read the plan in full on The Briefing and read her op-ed on Bloomberg. She summed up her plan saying, “The bottom line is that we can never allow what happened in 2008 to happen again. Just as important, we have to encourage Wall Street to live up to its proper role in our economy — helping Main Street grow and prosper. With strong rules of the road and smart incentives, the financial industry can help more young families buy that first home, make it possible for entrepreneurs to create new small businesses and support hardworking Americans saving for retirement. My plan will help us unlock that potential. We’ll create good-paying jobs, raise incomes and help families afford a middle-class life, with less speculation and more growth — growth that’s strong, fair and long-term. That’s what I’m fighting for in my campaign, and that’s what I’ll do as president.”
Tonight, Clinton will present an award during the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala, and she will attend a private fundraiser in Washington, DC. For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Hillary Clinton Speeches 