May 16 -- Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, has stated to the Associated Press that his income tax returns would likely not be released before the November election due to an IRS audit of his finances. Bloomberg View c Bloomberg
Billionaire presidential candidate Donald Trump bills himself as an "ardent philanthropist" but the charitable giving from Chris Christie 's foundation tops the presumptive Republican nominee's gifts to charity by nearly 12 to 1, an Asbury Park Press investigation found.
According to their federal income tax returns, New Jersey's Republican governor, a close ally to Trump, and his wife, Mary Pat Christie , have donated more than $145,000 to charity since 2009, the year he was elected. They donated $27,109 in 2014, the most recent year that returns have been made available.
The Sandy recovery fund that Mary Pat Christie started has handed out more than $37.7 million since it was founded in late 2012.
By contrast, the Donald J. Trump Foundation — the candidate's private, namesake foundation — donated about $3.2 million over the three-year period, according to IRS documents — including $591,000 in 2014, the latest year available.
The candidate himself hasn't donated a single dollar to the foundation since a $30,000 gift in 2008, which is well within his rights, said Professor Bruce Hopkins of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas , who specializes in nonprofit law.
"There’s no obligation right now for Trump to put any money into his foundation,” Hopkins said. “Once it’s established, there’s no obligation on his or anybody else’s part.”
If he has donated more, it remains under wraps.
The presumptive GOP nominee repeatedly has rebuffed calls to release his federal income tax returns, saying they are under IRS audit. Instead, he has provided financial statements outlining $102 million of charitable giving that philanthropy Professor Leslie Lenkowsky of Indiana University in Bloomington , Ind., calls "bad philanthropy."
Instead of cash gifts and grants, Trump counts free rounds of golf, spa trips and hotel stays at properties he owns as charitable giving. In Lenkowsky's view, that doesn't exactly equate to charity.
"We typically think that philanthropy has to involve your own money or time. There should be an element of sacrifice," Lenkowsky said. "Obviously, there's not a lot of that going on."
Chris Christie has become one of Trump's closest political allies, often seen at his side during major campaign events. The governor ended his own GOP presidential bid earlier this year.
A nonprofit organization that Mary Pat Christie created also has given more than Trump's foundation: The Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, founded shortly after the October 2012 storm, distributed $7.1 million in gifts in 2015.
It surpassed the Trump foundation's giving in one single, $600,000 donation to the United Way of Monmouth County.
While the Sandy fund — whose IRS 990 forms list Mary Pat Christie as its president — is a typical disaster relief fund, the Trump foundation is a "reflection of the individual," Lenkowsky said. The Trump foundation distributed hundreds of thousands in small donations to medical societies and disease research; it also regularly donates to politically oriented organizations that potential allies lead.
In 2014, the Trump foundation gave a $100,000 grant to the Citizens United Foundation, which is "dedicated to restoring our government to citizens' control," and $25,000 to the American Spectator Foundation, which publishes the conservativeAmerican Spectator magazine.
A year earlier, it gave $50,000 to the American Conservative Union Foundation, founded by former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina .
Under the IRS guidelines for nonprofits, donating to politically active organizations is perfectly acceptable, Hopkins said. The line is drawn at political campaigns and committees.
"The tax law is quite clear: Charities are not supposed to spend any money on any political campaign activity at all. There are even tougher rules for foundations," Hopkins said. "If a private foundation were to do that, it would be open to excise taxes and probably loss of its tax-exempt status."
While about $6.4 million of Trump's self-reported charitable giving was from in-kind gifts, another category worried Lenkowsky. According to The Washington Post, Trump listed $63.8 million in conservation easements, land that he has vowed not to develop, as charitable giving.
"If I say, 'I'm not going to build on a beachfront because I want to protect the property,' I can call that a gift," Lenkowsky said. "That doesn't mean people at your resort can't go on the beachfront. You do yield something. You're agreeing not to build on it, but you're really sacrificing very little — especially if you had no intent whatsoever of building there."
A Trump foundation spokesman did not return requests for comment.
Trump's charitable giving also is a drop in the bucket compared to his likely Democratic rival for the presidency, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton .
Clinton and former President Bill Clinton donated $3 million in gifts to charity, 99.9% of which went to the Clinton Foundation , according to her 2014 federal tax returns. The foundation is an international nonprofit with multiple areas of focus, including hunger, disease prevention, economics and climate change.
"The money may have come from speaking engagements, but it's still their money and that's the difference," Lenkowsky said. "They could have used that $3 million to buy a jet plane."
The Clinton Foundation took in $172.5 million in revenue in 2014, and gave out $5.1 million in grants.
It paid more than $34 million in salaries. Its stated aim: to make a difference by funding operations instead of relying on grant awards.
"Clearly, the Clinton Foundation is a real entity in the philanthropic world and is thought of that way," Lenkowsky said.
But it also has faced criticism for accepting large donations from foreign governments since its inception, including governments that Hillary Clinton later negotiated with during her tenure as secretary of state.
On May 12, The Wall Street Journalreported that the Clinton Global Initiative , an arm of the foundation, had arranged a $2 million investment in Energy Pioneer Solutions, a for-profit company with three part-owners tied to the Clintons .
The foundation's "commitment" system acts like a matchmaker, usually setting up private companies, which invest money in nonprofits that support specific global issues. A foundation spokesman could provide only three specific examples that involved a for-profit company receiving financing.
Lenkowsky said The Wall Street Journal report's allegations are troubling, "a lot of smoke" that nobody's been able to link to fire.
However, just because Energy Pioneer Solutions executives are friendly with the Clintons "doesn’t mean they’re not doing something important and within the foundation’s orbit. But those are troubling."
Nonetheless, questions about charitable giving aren't likely to swing an election, said Matthew Hale, a political science associate professor at Seton Hall University inSouth Orange, N.J. While some say Trump might not be as rich as he long has maintained, concerns about in-kind giving — which is legal, despite not involving a gift of money — is not enough to sway voters.
It does little to damage his "persona as this philanthropic, wonderful, benevolent billionaire," Hale said.
"The only way it affects him is if the narrative of 'Trump really is a liar,' takes hold," the academician said. "It may take hold or it may not. This would feed into that, but by itself I don't think it makes a difference."
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What they gave
Donald Trump
Donated: $30,000 to his namesake foundation since 2008, according to the only public record available. He may have given more, but Trump said he will not release his personal income tax forms until an IRS audit is finished.
The Donald J. Trump Foundation: $591,450 in grants in 2014, the most recent year available. Most checks were for $5,000 or less.
The largest check, $100,000, went to the Citizens United Foundation, a charity that promotes conservative values. Other checks: $50,000, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society ; $26,500, Anti-Defamation League ; $25,000, American Spectator Foundation; $25,000, Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation; $25,000, Police Athletic League; $20,000, Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund
Chris and Mary Pat Christie
Donated: More than $145,000 since 2009, including $27,109 in 2014. Recipients not listed on tax returns.
Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund: $7.1 million last year. The charity, spearheaded by New Jersey’s first lady following 2012 superstorm Sandy, has given a total of $37.7 million to nonprofit groups during three years. Donations include $1.5 million, Community Loan Fund of New Jersey; $750,000, St. Bernard Project in Chalmette, La.; $600,000, United way of Monmouth County; $500,000, Habitat for Humanity of Monmouth County; $500,000, Foodbank of Monmouth & Ocean Counties; $356,000, Rebuilding Together for Bergen County ; $253,000, Northern Ocean Habitat for Humanity
Hillary Clinton
Donated: $3 million last year along with her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Nearly all of the money went to her family’s Clinton Foundation.
The Clinton Foundation: $5.1 million in grants and more than $34 million in staff salaries in 2014 across the globe to “promote global health and wellness,” economic growth for women and girls and other charitable ventures.
Source: IRS Forms 990, gubernatorial tax releases
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