Rep. Matt Gaetz faced an overflow crowds at town halls this week and although attendees largely disagreed on his ideas (especially his idiotic bill to abolish the EPA) and support of Donald Trump, he did elicit raucous cheers during one particularly emotional question. A must-read from CNN:
Donna Waters, a 56-year-old lawyer from Pensacola, became emotional Thursday night as she pressed Gaetz for an answer.
"I'm the descendant of an immigrant, he came to America in 1607 to a town called Jamestown, and my family's been here ever since," Waters said, noting that her family members have fought in every major US war, including both sides of the Civil War.
"Whenever there's a threat to this country, my family has stepped forward," Waters said, tearing up. "There are allegations that a hostile foreign country is committing acts of undeclared war by infiltrating the highest levels of our government."
Waters continued: "You are on the Judiciary Committee. You have said they are going to investigate the Russian allegations. Yes or no, Yes or no -- let me ask my question -- will you call for the release of President Trump's income tax returns?"
See Gaetz’s surprising response:
Donald Trump has a mysterious loan of at least $50 million dollars. Mother Jones has the details:
The financial disclosure form he filed last year did note more than a dozen loans totaling at least $713 million. But the full amount could be more. And buried in the paperwork is a puzzling debt that ethics experts say could suggest that Trump has a major creditor he has not publicly identified.
According to the disclosure, in 2012, Trump borrowed more than $50 million from a company called Chicago Unit Acquisition LLC. (The true value of the loan could be much higher; the form requires Trump only to state the range of the loan's value, and he selected the top range, "over $50,000,000.") Elsewhere in the same document, Trump notes that he owns this LLC. That is, he made the loan to himself. There's nothing necessarily unusual about that.
Here's where the situation gets odd. With Trump owning the Chicago Unit Acquisition LLC—and the LLC being owed $50 million or more by Trump—this company should be listed on Trump's disclosure as worth at least that much, unless it has debt offsetting this amount. Yet on Trump's latest disclosure form, Chicago Unit Acquisition is not listed at all. The disclosure rules say that any asset worth more than $1,000 must be noted. So this is the mystery: Why is this Trump-owned firm that holds a $50 million-plus note from Trump not worth anything?
Who is the mystery loan from? The American people have the right to know and Congress has the power to find out. Rep. Bill Pascrell has asked Rep. Kevin Brady, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, to use a 1924 law that allows members of the committee to privately review the tax returns for conflicts of interest. Brady and 22 of his Republican counterparts on the committee are blocking the effort (click here to see if your rep is on the list). Members of the House Judiciary Committee also have the power to review Donald Trump’s tax returns.
Congress, do your duty to protect this nation
Why are Republicans going to such great lengths to NOT investigate whether a hostile foreign country is pulling the strings and/or blackmailing the President of the United States? It’s outrageous and a threat to national security. Click here to contact your Congressional representative and tell them to do their job. Especially if you are represented by one of the 23 Congressional Republicans on this list.
