[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 20, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5891-S5893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              DONALD TRUMP

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, working people in our great country are 
tired of being ripped off by really rich people--some who are 
billionaires and some who claim they are billionaires. During the 
financial crisis, Wall Street took

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Main Street to the cleaners. Oh, did it hurt the State of Nevada--all 
of Nevada: Reno, Las Vegas--and it clobbered rural Nevada. American 
families lost their savings, their livelihoods, and their businesses 
because of the greed of a few. The last thing the American people want 
or need is a President who will run another financial scam on each of 
them.
  If elected, Donald Trump would be the scammer in chief. Trump is a 
fraud. That is the word that I chose. He was born with an inheritance, 
but he lost his daddy's wealth. That is why Donald Trump won't release 
his tax returns. That is certainly one of the reasons, of course. He is 
not worth nearly as much as he claims to be. That is the secret he 
doesn't want anyone to know. He wants everyone to think he is the big, 
rich, rich man.
  We know that Trump lies about his money. I am not making that up. He 
once admitted he assesses his net worth on a whim. This is what he said 
during one of his many, many depositions, which is a court proceeding 
where you gather evidence, and he has appeared before many for his 
depositions. This is what he said on one occasion in his many sworn 
statements. I keep stressing that this is one of a multitude of 
lawsuits to which he has been a party. This is Donald Trump talking: 
``My net worth fluctuates, and it goes up and down with markets and 
with attitudes and with feelings, even my own feelings.''
  Simply put, Trump is faking his net worth because he doesn't want us 
to know that he is not a good businessman and he is not as rich as he 
would have us believe.
  Donald Trump's business record speaks for itself. He has ruined 
company after company, hotel after hotel. Over the last couple of 
decades, we know of at least six of his companies that have gone into 
bankruptcy. There are Trump's other business ventures, such as Trump 
Steaks. Yes, that was really one--Trump Steaks, those things you eat. 
There was Trump Magazine, those things you read, and Trump University, 
those places where you are supposed to get educated. They were all 
flops.
  Trump claims to be a titan in the real estate industry, but the 
Washington Post has reported that he doesn't crack the list of major 
real estate buyers in New York City, let alone the country.
  Earlier this year, the New York Times reported that Trump has such a 
bad business reputation that banks do not wish to lend him money.
  In lieu of real business success, Donald Trump resorts to scams like 
Trump University. That is a doozy, but that is one of the best scams. 
Now, with Trump University, he ripped off everyone from students 
interested in real estate to retirees looking to invest their savings. 
Trump University is under investigation by the New York Office of the 
Attorney General, and he is the defendant in two other class action 
lawsuits. Why? Because he cheated people. He cheated them.
  Litigation is nothing new to Donald Trump. Over the last decade and a 
half, Trump and his companies have been sued in Federal court 72 times. 
That doesn't take into consideration the many times he has been sued in 
State courts. There have been 72 Federal cases and many more times in 
State courts. But Trump, being the flimflammer that he is, just moves 
on to another scheme.
  He even cheats charities. He has a charity--using a broad definition 
of a ``charity''--called the Trump Foundation. Trump started his 
charity because he is desperate to get invited to fancy parties and be 
seen with people who give their own money. He seeks acceptance among 
the wealthy. Since 2008, Trump has not donated a single penny to his 
own charity, the Trump Foundation. Does he have the money to donate? 
Well, he says he should, but he doesn't. Americans are far more 
generous, even though they are of modest means, but they contribute 
generously to charities every day--not the Donald. No, instead, he goes 
to other individuals and charities and asks them to donate to his 
foundation.
  The Trump Foundation isn't as much of a charity as it is Donald 
Trump's personal ATM machine. Trump uses the money he gets from other 
charities to buy himself gifts. Four years ago, Trump paid $12,000 of 
charity resources to buy a football helmet signed by Tim Tebow. Tim 
Tebow, I am sure, is a fine man. His college career was terrific. He is 
a Heisman award winner. His professional career wasn't so good, but 
everything I know about the man indicates he is a good person. He is 
now 29 years old, and with his great physical attributes, he is trying 
baseball. He hasn't played baseball since he was in high school, but he 
hit almost .500 his last year in high school, and I hope he does well.
  Here is the deal with the helmet. If Trump wants to buy Tim Tebow's 
helmet or Willie Mays' bat or Ernie Banks' glove--whatever he wants to 
buy--that is his right. But shouldn't he use his own money? Not Donald 
Trump--no, he didn't use his money to buy Tim Tebow's helmet. He didn't 
use his checkbook to buy that memorabilia. Instead, he used the Trump 
Foundation charity money--money that was supposed to be given to 
somebody that needed help. So for $12,000, a big shot was bidding on a 
helmet, not with his own money but with the charity's money.

  The Internal Revenue Service calls this sort of thing self-dealing. 
Self-dealing is when a person spends charity money on themself. It is 
against the law. It is illegal. But Trump doesn't care about what the 
law is. If he doesn't have the money himself, which obviously he 
doesn't, then he uses other people's money--other people's money that 
is put into his charity, and he spends it on himself. This is who the 
Republicans want to be our President. This is who Republicans--Leader 
McConnell and Speaker Ryan want this man to prepare a budget for our 
country? Trump can't be trusted with his own charity. Are we supposed 
to believe he can manage the Nation's Treasury or provide money for our 
armed services or for Homeland Security?
  This is a man who uses charities to bilk even police officers. In 
2009, Donald Trump asked the Charles Evans Foundation for a donation to 
his charity, the Trump Foundation. Trump told them he needed the money 
to donate to the Palm Beach, FL, Police Foundation. They gave Trump's 
charity $150,000. Donald Trump took that money and gave it to the Palm 
Beach Police Foundation. He didn't match it with a dime of his own. 
Trump took the Charles Evans Foundation money, and he donated it as if 
it were his own.
  Here is where the story gets even more absurd--even worse. What kind 
of man is this person running for President? Well, here is a slight 
indication. When the Palm Beach Police Foundation wanted to use Trump's 
South Florida resort to honor him for his gift--remember, the gift was 
from somebody else, but he claimed credit for it--Trump charged them 
for the event, for the room, and for the food. It is estimated that the 
Palm Beach Police Foundation paid Trump and his hotel operation 
$200,000 to honor himself.
  Donald Trump ran a hustle on many different charities and netted his 
resort money, and he didn't spend a penny of his own money along the 
way.
  Trump never worries about being caught because he financially rewards 
the people who would investigate the racket he perpetuates. In 2013, 
the attorney general of Florida, Pam Bondi, announced she was joining 
the New York investigation into Trump University. Four days after 
announcing the probe, Donald Trump sent $25,000 to her campaign. The 
attorney general's office announced almost immediately that it would 
not be investigating Trump University and would not join with the State 
of New York. Guess what money Trump used to persuade the attorney 
general to change her mind. Was it his money? Oh, no. Was it money from 
his charity? You got it. Of course, that is illegal, but he did it 
anyway and got credit from the attorney general of Florida.
  How can Senator McConnell and Speaker Ryan continue to endorse this 
man? How can Republicans close their eyes to the fact that this 
swindler is running for President and he is ripping off the American 
people and our government?
  This Republican Congress has spent millions of your tax dollars on 
political hit jobs masquerading as investigations. They have spent 
untold amounts of money on Benghazi, on emails, and they found nothing, 
of course--zero--and they have acknowledged that.

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  So I have another job for them. Why don't they investigate Donald 
Trump? They can do it quickly. They are all set to do this. They don't 
mind spending taxpayer dollars. All these investigations of the Clinton 
operation have always been taxpayer dollars. They should take a cue 
from the attorney general of the State of New York and hold Trump 
accountable for scamming charities, the IRS, and the American people.
  Donald Trump desperately wants people to believe that he is a 
brilliant, rich, rich businessman. In reality he is a silver-spoon-
toting fraud who would never make it in the real world without his 
father's money. That is why Trump's entire business career has been one 
scam after another, such as in Atlantic City where he cheated everybody 
and got rich at the expense of others. If there is one reason Atlantic 
City has gone downhill--and it has--it is Donald Trump.
  He is always looking for a mark, some victim for one of his scams, 
because he is incapable of making money honestly. Now our country is 
Trump's next target. He wants this to be the biggest payoff ever.
  Mr. President, I think it is time to announce the business of the 
day.

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