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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump allies are handing out cash to black voters - events where they lavish praise on Trump
Trump allies are handing out cash to black votersOrganizers have begun holding events in black communities where they lavish praise on the president while handing out thousands of dollars in giveaways.
Allies of Donald Trump have begun holding events in black communities where organizers lavish praise on the president as they hand out tens of thousands of dollars to lucky attendees.
The first giveaway took place last month in Cleveland, where recipients whose winning tickets were drawn from a bin landed cash gifts in increments of several hundred dollars, stuffed into envelopes. A second giveaway scheduled for this month in Virginia has been postponed, and more are said to be in the works.
The tour comes as Trumps campaign has been investing its own money to make inroads with black voters and erode Democrats overwhelming advantage with them. But the cash giveaways are organized under the auspices of an outside charity, the Urban Revitalization Coalition, permitting donors to remain anonymous and make tax-deductible contributions.
The organizers say the events are run by the book and intended to promote economic development in inner cities. But the group behind the cash giveaways is registered as a 501(c)3 charitable organization. One leading legal expert on nonprofit law said the arrangement raises questions about the groups tax-exempt status, because it does not appear to be vetting the recipients of its money for legitimate charitable need.
"Charities are required to spend their money on charitable and educational activities, said Marcus Owens, a former director of the Exempt Organizations Division at the Internal Revenue Service who is now in private practice at the law firm Loeb & Loeb. It's not immediately clear to me how simply giving money away to people at an event is a charitable act.
Asked about the legality of the giveaways in a brief phone interview, the Urban Revitalization Coalitions CEO, Darrell Scott, said that most gifts were between $300 and $500, and that the group mandates that anyone who receives over $600 fills out a W-9 form in order to ensure compliance with tax law. He did not respond to follow-up questions about how the giveaways were structured and whether they met the legal standard for a charitable act.
Scott declined to name the donors funding the effort. "I'd rather not, he said. They prefer to remain anonymous."
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/29/trump-black-voters-cash-giveaways-108072
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Trump allies are handing out cash to black voters - events where they lavish praise on Trump (Original Post)
Demovictory9
Jan 2020
OP
evertonfc
(1,713 posts)1. Free cash and will still vote
against Trump. Where can I sign up
msongs
(67,462 posts)2. sort of a guaranteed annual income lol nt
Haggis for Breakfast
(6,831 posts)3. The best guvmint money can buy.