Trump’s Request for Third Financial Disclosure Delay Denied by Election Commission

Bill Allison
·1 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Election Commission turned down former President Donald Trump’s request for an additional 30 days to file a detailed report on his income, assets and debts, but the decision will have little effect on him.

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Candidates who submit reports more than 30 days after they are due must pay a filing fee of $200, according to a letter Lisa Stevenson, the commission’s acting general counsel, sent to a Trump lawyer on Thursday. That’s the penalty set forth in the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.

The FEC had already granted Trump two 45-day extensions to file, the maximum amount allowed. But on Wednesday, the deadline for filing the document, Derek Ross, a lawyer representing Trump, sent a one-paragraph letter to Stevenson requesting the extra time “due to the complexities of his financial holdings.”

Presidential candidates are required to report detailed information on their assets, income and debt within 30 days of becoming a candidate, but can ask for two 45-day extensions in writing if they are unable to assemble the necessary information.

As a candidate in 2015 and 2016, Trump filed the documents, which ran to more than 90 pages, on time, providing information on his hotels, golf courses, resorts and other investments. He frequently boasted that he “built a great company” and touted his business acumen as a key qualification to be president.

The filing he missed was supposed to cover 2021 and most of 2022. He is now required to file a report on April 15 for that period. Under federal law, he’ll have to file another disclosure, including the first months of this year, one month later.

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