LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman is willing to pay millions of dollars to see Donald Trump’s tax returns.
Hoffman wrote on Monday that he is willing to contribute up to $5 million to a crowdfunding effort, via Crowdpac.com, aimed at getting Trump to release his tax returns. The crowdfunding effort Hoffman identified was started by Peter Kiernan, a Marine, who is raising money to be donated to veterans’ charities — if Trump releases his tax returns.
“[T]here’s no real reason that Trump is keeping his returns secret, except that he sees them as a bargaining chip to utilize,” Hoffman wrote. “In a functioning democracy, the public shouldn’t be forced to bargain with a major presidential candidate to obtain access to his tax returns. And for the last 40 years, it hasn’t had to.”
Hoffman also argued that, because of how Trump’s presidential decisions could affect his business, “it has in fact never been more necessary for a candidate to release tax returns than it is for him.”
Other efforts by wealthy Trump critics to incentivize the GOP nominee to release his tax returns have been ineffective. Last month, billionaire investor Warren Buffett pledged to release his own tax returns if Trump did so. Hoffman and Buffett have both endorsed Clinton’s presidential bid.
Trump has refused to release his tax returns citing an IRS audit. His running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, released his tax returns last week.
