A left-leaning advocacy group has filed a
Trump reportedly bought the Denver Broncos helmet and jersey for $12,000 at a fundraising auction in 2012 to benefit the Susan G. Komen breast cancer charity, according to the
The American Democracy Legal Fund, a liberal watchdog group that was established to hold candidates for political offices accountable for possible ethics or legal violations, has filed a series of complaints and legal challenges against Trump and other Republicans in recent years, mostly with the Federal Election Commission. In the latest complaint, the group filed a complaint with the IRS against Trump.
“In clear violation of the law prohibiting private foundation managers from sanctioning self-dealing, Mr. Donald J. Trump, president of the Foundation and unmistakably a ‘disqualified person,’ engaged in self-dealing with the Foundation when he used Foundation assets to ‘furnish goods’ for himself,” said a letter from the group Monday. “Specifically, Mr. Trump purchased a football helmet for himself at a charity auction in 2012. Thus, Mr. Trump erred not only in allowing the foundation to engage in self-dealing, but was himself the self-dealer in the transaction.”
The group argues that Trump is liable for excise taxes for the act of self-dealing even if he “had no knowledge at the time of the act that such act constituted self-dealing.”
Tebow-autographed football gear has since declined in market value after his team was defeated in the NFL playoffs by the New England Patriots on the same night as the January 2012 auction, and a similar helmet and jersey would sell together today for approximately $415 online, according to the Post. Trump’s son Eric told the