Thread by @DanielSchulman

NEW: Donald Trump has never explained a mysterious $50 million-plus loan. @russchoma spent months investigating and uncovered information suggesting this debt may be evidence of tax fraud. bit.ly/2k4QEXZ

@russchoma This is a complicated—but important!—story, so allow me to unpack it a bit in a short thread

@russchoma This loan, held by a Trump-owned LLC called Chicago Unit Acquisition, has puzzled reporters for years. Trump's financial disclosures note this loan is worth at least $50 million but also that CUA earns no revenue & is considered virtually worthless.

Huh? documentcloud.org/documents/6284…

@russchoma The New York Times asked Trump about Chicago Unit Acquisition in 2016. He said it represented a debt he had purchased from a group of lenders. And he claimed nytimes.com/2016/05/24/bus…:

@russchoma This was an odd statement. Tax experts we consulted said it sounded like Trump was describing “debt parking,” a tax avoidance strategy that crosses the line into illegal territory if the borrower has no intention to repay. Trump’s “we don’t care” comment raised red flags for them

@russchoma But what loan was Trump claiming he bought?

There were two loans associated with the Chicago project: a $640 million loan from Deutsche Bank and a $130 million loan through a NYC-based hedge fund called Fortress Investment Group

@russchoma I should add that we know a good deal about the financing of this project thanks to Donald Trump, who in 2008, as the economy imploded, sued Deutsche Bank, claiming it had caused the financial crisis that was inhibiting his ability to repay his DB loan. documentcloud.org/documents/6194…

@russchoma Trump ultimately refinanced his Deutsche Bank loan through the firm’s private banking unit (an odd deal in itself!). There is no indication that any portion of this debt was purchased by Trump.

That leaves the Fortress debt.

@russchoma In March '12, Trump negotiated a deal with Fortress in which he paid about 50 cents on the dollar to settle his remaining $100 million debt to the firm.

But Trump did not purchase this debt, according to sources with direct knowledge of the transaction. The loan was cancelled.

@russchoma What happens when a lender forgives a portion of a debt? The forgiven portion becomes taxable income in the eyes of the IRS. In Trump’s case, this would have amounted to $50 million in income with a tax rate as high as 39 percent.

@russchoma If Trump did not purchase the Fortress loan, than what is the $50 million-plus loan Trump claims to own through Chicago Unit Acquisition?

Does this loan exist?

@russchoma Various reporters, including Russ & the Post’s @Fahrenthold (who has done great work on this subject) have asked about the Trump Org about Chicago Unit Acquisition in the past. The co. has never offerred an explanation, though its top lawyer once called it a “trade secret”

@russchoma @Fahrenthold That’s not good enough. Trump’s loans (even those he claims to owe himself) are a national security issue. The public deserves a full picture of his debts.

@russchoma @Fahrenthold How do we get to the bottom of this?

First, if you have a tip that advances this story, by all means get in touch motherjones.com/contribute/how…

@russchoma @Fahrenthold This is also a subject that could come up in the House Ways and Means Committee’s probe of the IRS’ mandatory audit program of presidential tax returns.

There are also multiple investigations into Trump’s finances ongoing in New York, including one by the NY AG’s office.

@russchoma @Fahrenthold That probe, by the way, has delved into the financing of the Chicago project.