Thread by @karolcummins

Trump tried to unload a failed NYS golf course that experts say was useless land, but not before working local officials to see if they could reappraise it at more than 5 times the assessed value, & later used a grossly inflated figure on campaign docs. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

🌳How Trump Does Biz🌳

Trump bought the wet, overgrown, tree-tangled parcels that sit miles off a state parkway beginning in 1998 for less than the current price of a two-bedroom condo in Trump Tower.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

📌But local leaders nixed the golf-course plans and his subsequent efforts to sell it to a homebuilding company faltered.

💰So he gave it away.....
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

📌The donation took shape around the same time that Trump was trying to turn around his struggling casinos in Atlantic City, NJ.

📌In March 2006, one month before his gift was announced, Trump’s casino empire lost $22.1 million in its fourth quarter.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

*Despite the purchase price of $2.75 million, and a county assessment of $5.5 million at the time of the donation, Trump’s 2016 campaign said in a list of charitable donations published by The Washington Post that the land was worth $26.1 million.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

📌📌The law does require taxpayers to accurately report the value of all charitable donations for deduction purposes and Trump could face a penalty or fine from the IRS if he exaggerated the value of the land on his tax returns.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

📌The IRS routinely audits all modern U.S presidents and vice presidents annually, including Trump.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

📌Tim Miller, an environmental consultant who worked on the plans, said Trump MADE NO IMPROVEMENTS TO THE LAND, so the value likely stayed the same.
,
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

📌Trump’s company paid Miller all but $140,000,.

Miller said he finally accepted Trump’s personal offer of a discounted membership at the Briarcliff Manor club in lieu of payment.

"It was either accept it or go to court," Miller said.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

‼️Maximizing Value

📌Once Trump decided to donate the lands, his aides worked hard to maximize their value.

📌Apparently, Trump wanted a bigger write-off than what the county said the land was worth.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

📌Henry DeCotis, then the assistant state attorney general, said Trump fixer Michael Cohen called him in 2005 to inquire about donating lands to the state.

📌DeCotis said the official fair market value of $5.5 million “might be in the ballpark.”
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

‘Opinion’ Sought

📌A Trump Organization employee asked for a “zoning opinion” that would justify a $27.5 million value for the land.

📌The person said he told the Trump Organization that that figure could not be justified.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Trump’s donation nevertheless was finalized and in April 2006,

📌NOTE: The Internal Revenue Service requires filers claiming a charitable deduction worth more than $5,000 to attach to their returns a “qualified appraisal” of the contribution.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

📌Did Trump ever conduct & submit a “qualified appraisal?”

📌Goldman said he was "unaware" of Trump having conducted any independent appraisal of the parcels of land.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

📌In 2016, the Trump campaign released to The Associated Press and the Post a 93-page list of his charitable contributions, listing “Land Donated to NY Office of Parks – Yorktown, N.Y. – 436 acres” at “$26,100,000.00."
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

‼️Appraisal Process

The only way to know if Trump actually claimed a deduction of $26.1 million would be if congressional committees get his federal tax returns they have subpoenaed from the Treasury Department.
@HouseJudiciary
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

📌Bernadette Castro, the former NYS Parks commissioner said she “does not recall the exact appraisal process.”

📌Castro appeared on Trump’s television show "The Apprentice" in 2005 and was “fired” by Trump.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

NOTE: Bernadette Castro, the fmr NYS parks commissioner, worked a number of ‘deals’ <cough> with Trump: “Trump ...knows one way to do something, and that’s five-star, because his name is everything to him, it’s his marketing tool.”

H/T @spunctunculous
nytimes.com/2006/09/23/nyr…

2006 Jones Beach deal:

📌The deal Castro struck to allow the Trump to avoid some $1.4 million in local school taxes every year.

📌Under the deal, the state, not Trump will own the facility.
nypost.com/2006/09/19/tru…

Trump ♥️Golf Courses

Golf Courses are often considered the perfect high ticket vehicle for ‘cleaning’ dirty money

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1034565504839516160?s=21

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