It has happened again. The Washington Post’s David A. Fahrenthold ― plugging away at the “what actually happened to that money presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump promised to give to charity?” beat ― has, through his dogged reporting, forced a response from the Trump camp.
Previously, Fahrenthold’s work tracking the some $6 million Trump promised to veterans charities led to Trump finally writing a $1 million check. This time, the paper has earned an angry phone call from Trump’s son, Eric, who complained, “I’m just saying, Jesus Christ, why is this guy trying to f**king kill us?”
Is David A. Fahrenthold trying to f**king kill them? Perhaps we should shut down The Washington Post until we figure out what’s going on. Or, we can solve a riddle that may settle an important part of this matter once and for all: The Mystery Of The Disappearing Tim Tebow Helmet.
Here’s the backstory on that: In 2012, Trump attended a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen organization in Palm Beach, Florida. There, he bid $12,000 on ― and won! ― a Denver Broncos jersey and helmet signed by Tebow. The rub here is that when the breast-cancer awareness-raisers got the money from Trump, it came from the Donald J. Trump Foundation. This is an issue involving various tax laws.
Those rules ban the “furnishing of goods” by private foundations — like Trump’s — to their own officers. If the rule is broken, the person who breaks it must notify the IRS and may have to pay a tax penalty. There could also be penalties for signing a tax return that failed to mention the violation. In 2012, the tax return for Trump’s foundation checked the boxes for “no,” it did not break the self-dealing rule.
But did it?
The answer may depend on what became of the helmet and jersey.
If they are still in Trump’s possession — perhaps on display at one of his homes or properties — that might be deemed improper, if the IRS ever looks.
Well, did these goods remain in Trump’s possession? During his recent call to the Post, Eric Trump suggested that the helmet, at least, might have been given away. As Fahrenthold reported Wednesday:
Eric Trump said he wasn’t sure what had become of the helmet, but he doubted his father kept it.
“Knowing him, he probably gave that helmet to a child,” Eric Trump said. “Sometimes the only way to support [a cause] is by buying an item at this event. You don’t want that item! … I wouldn’t even be surprised if he never collected the helmet. It’s not about the helmet.”
Of course! Somewhere out there, there might be a child ― a woebegone towheaded lad, no doubt ― who had his dreams realized when kindly old man Donald Trump gave him a Denver Broncos helmet signed by Tim Tebow as a reminder to keep reaching for the stars (but not so hard that it could muck up his passing mechanics). If that child is out there, he or she could come forward and bring closure to this matter, thereby restoring some of the credibility that was so cruelly ripped from Trump by dint of the fact that he hates having to provide proof for his claims but reporters keep asking for it anyway.
Or maybe Trump never collected the helmet (although, curiously, he was photographed with it) ― in which case, the Susan G. Komen folks could check their curio cabinets to see if it’s still hanging around and try to auction it off again. (For less than $12,000 probably, but hey, second bite of the apple.)
So if you did receive this helmet, just come forward and let everyone know, because it would be a big help. If you do, however, you should know that you might be disappointing the generous Donald Trump. After all, Eric says his dad “likes to keep some anonymity,” a fact that bears itself out whenever you look at the man’s many properties, like the “Anonymous SoHo New York” or the “???? International Hotel and Tower Chicago” or the “Can’t Say I Recall Exactly Who Owns This Building at 40 Wall Street, Probably Some Really Charitable Guy Though.”
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims ― 1.6 billion members of an entire religion ― from entering the U.S.
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Jason Linkins edits “Eat The Press” for The Huffington Post and co-hosts the HuffPost Politics podcast “So, That Happened.” Subscribe here, and listen to the latest episode below.