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Jenna Johnson
National Policy Correspondent covering campaigns and voters
CHARLOTTESVILLE – About 24 hours after presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke released his tax returns for the past decade, a student at the University of Virginia asked him why he had not given more money to charities.
O'Rourke, a former congressman from El Paso, and his wife said in their 2017 tax return that they donated $ 1,166 – which is one-third of 1 percent of their income from $ 370. $ 412 that year. O 'Rourke told reporters on Wednesday that over the years, he and his wife had made "thousands of dollars" more than they had not detailed "because this was not the case. it was not important for us to take the deduction. " provide updated figures.
"I have been in post since 2005. I do my best to contribute to the success of my community, my state and now my country," said O'Rourke in response to the student on Tuesday night. "I'm doing everything I can right now, spending this time with you – not with our children, not at home in El Paso – because I want to sacrifice everything so that we can live this moment of truth with all that we've had it. "
Mr. O. Rourke is not the only Democratic candidate to be asked about his personal finances at a time when many voters are frustrated by the growing economic divide in the country. One by one, Democratic candidates have released their tax returns – which President Trump has refused to do – in the interests of transparency.
But this opening also calls for judgment, more recently on the level of charitable giving of those seeking to lead a party that has taken a comprehensive approach to Republicans in need and criticized for not supporting them. While many Democratic nominees and the constituents who support them are alarmed by attempts to transfer government responsibilities to non-profit organizations and charities, donations to charities have long been considered a civic duty. .
"Voluntary charitable donations are laudable, but they can never replace current public investments in major social programs and services to improve people's lives," said Arianna Jones, spokesperson for Senator Bernie Sanders (I- Vt.) And from his wife, who donated about 3.4% of their income last year, a rate indicated by his campaign does not include the proceeds from one of his books that was donated to a charity.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) At a public meeting of Fox News on April 15th. Sanders and his wife gave about 3.4% of their income last year. (Matt Rourke / AP)
Some observers said on Wednesday that it was unfair to look only at the amount of charitable donations made by the candidates. Anand Giridharadas, author of "The winners take it all: the elite charade of Changing the World, "said on Twitter that the percentage of donations of" public officials who make a living to improve common institutions … can not be compared to that businessmen who harm the public good ", but are larger donors.
According to Ashley Post, a spokesperson for Charity Navigator, the country's largest independent philanthropic evaluator, households earning more than $ 100,000 are donating about 2-3% of their income to a charity.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) And her husband gave 5.5% of their income last year, while Governor Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) And his wife gave about 4%. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Min.) And her husband were just under 2%, as was Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) And her husband. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) And her husband were at 1.4%.
Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) Published 15 years of his return in 2013, when he was running in the Senate, but has not yet made public this year. The mayors of South Bend, Pete Buttigieg (D) and Julian Castro (D), the former mayor of San Antonio, have not yet made their statements. O'Rourke did not release his 2018 report, expected Monday, but his campaign announced he would do it soon.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat who was considering a presidential campaign, was criticized during the 2008 election campaign when his tax returns showed that he and his wife had only given 3,690 dollars to charities over the past 10 years.
Trump has repeatedly boasted of his generosity – but he has never published his own tax returns or provided any other proof of his donations to charity. In 2016, the Washington Post spent months looking for this evidence and found little evidence that Trump has recently made any significant charitable donations.
Between 2009 and 2015, Swiss Post was able to find only one donation from Trump's pocket for less than US $ 10,000. During this period, Trump did not give money to the Donald J. Trump Foundation, a charity he founded in 1987.
During the same period, the Post found that Trump had used the Trump Foundation's money to purchase large portraits of himself, to pay legal allowances for his for-profit businesses and to donate prohibited policy. The New York Attorney General sued Trump in 2018, alleging that he had allowed "persistent illegal behavior" in this charity. The lawsuit is ongoing, but Trump agreed to close the charity.
Since The Post started covering Trump's charitable donations, it seems to have grown: Trump donated to relieve the floods during his presidential campaign and since taking office he has donated his salary presidential.
The issue of tax returns is a partisan weapon at the start of the 2020 campaign, with Democrats suggesting that Trump's refusal means he must have something to hide. But this in turn prompted Democrats to abide by the tradition of publishing their own statements, which prompted them to look closely at their charitable giving.
O'Rourke added that in addition to donations listed in his tax returns, he and his wife had donated thousands of additional dollars that they had not detailed. He said he was in the process of contacting charities to calculate the total amount that he has donated over the last decade.
Upon returning from O'Rourke in 2017, he and his wife detailed $ 1,166 in donations: $ 1,000 to Annunciation House, which helps migrants and asylum seekers; $ 100 to college attended by Amy O'Rourke; $ 50 to the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, which provides legal services to detained immigrants; and $ 16 to an organization identified as "DE K-1 – CAMPR II LIMITED". The campaign has not yet explained what this organization does.
In previous years, the couple's detailed gifts ranged from $ 530 in 2008 to $ 12,900 in 2013, but were generally in the lower end of the range. Except in 2013, the couple's detailed charitable donations accounted for less than 1% of their income.
O'Rourke's donations increased in 2013 when the government closed for 16 days. He partnered with other legislators to donate his salary to a charity. That year, O. Rourkes reported giving $ 5,000 to Annunciation House, $ 4,800 to four groups of veterans, $ 1,200 to an addiction treatment center in El Paso, $ 1,000 to the El Paso Children's Hospital, $ 800 to the local public university and $ 100 to the El Paso community. Foundation. These donations represented 4.3% of the couple's income.
O'Rourke – who served on the House of Representatives Committee of the House of Representatives for six years – said he could not remember whether he had donated to veterans' groups in the past six years. years other than 2013.
"The honest answer is that I do not know," he said. "I do not remember how much we gave."
He added that he had spent a great deal of his time as a congressman on veterans issues, with the goal of improving access to mental health services and reducing the time. waiting in the health system of El Paso.
"Again, beyond donations measured in dollars, we have given our effort, our time, and this has changed the policy, practices and results for veterans in El Paso," O'Rourke said.
Mr O 'Rourke said he welcomed the thorough review and hoped that all presidential candidates, including Trump, would announce their return. In addition to questions about his charitable donations, the Wall Street Journal noted that the O'Rourkes appeared to have underpaid their taxes by several thousand dollars in 2013 and 2014 – an error that the couple corrects depending on the campaign.
"You deserve to know where we get our income, how we spent our money – and we should see it also from the President of the United States. It should be a US law, but it is not now, and the best way to move forward is to try to set an example, "O'Rourke said. "I therefore welcome the scrutiny, questions, the opportunity to answer them. . . . I think that should be part of anyone's candidacy for the highest and most important position in the country. "
David Fahrenthold, James Hohmann, Chelsea Janes and Sean Sullivan contributed to this report.
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