NJ Audubon Must Sever Ties With Trump And Refund Trump’s Financial Contributions
The Conservation Community Should Have Zero Tolerance For A Racist, Fascist, Impeached Insurrectionist
[Update #1 – 1/16/21 – Henry Giroux agrees and makes very similar arguments. ~~~ end update]
[Update #2 – 1/18/21 – We call on NJ Attorney General to investigate Trump’s tax avoidance and conservation fraud at Bedminster NJ golf course. The Hill reports:
People familiar with the investigation told CNN that the Trump Organization had also been subpoenaed for information on the property, including tax deductions the company took after donating a portion of the land to a public trust for conservation. …
By making a land donation for conservation, a property is able to take a tax deduction based on the value of the property. Vance’s investigation is looking into whether the value was inflated on the property to get a more beneficial tax deduction. ~~~ end update]
In the wake of Trump’s insurrection and impeachment, at this point, even corporate America is aggressively and swiftly moving to sever all ties with Donald Trump, see:
That sentiment is shared by NY City – the NY Times reported:
Yesterday, Mayor Bill de Blasio decided to take it a step further. He said that the city would terminate its contracts with Mr. Trump and his company because the president had incited violence at the Capitol.
“The contracts make it very clear if a company or the leadership of that company is engaged in criminal activity, we have the right to sever the contract,” Mr. de Blasio said on MSNBC. “Inciting an insurrection against the United States government clearly constitutes criminal activity.”
Even the Professional Golf Association gets it and has terminated the 2022 PGA tournament event at Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster NJ :
Yet, few people are aware of the fact that Donald Trump had a “partnership” with NJ Audubon Society at that same Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, see:
Check out how NJ Audubon CEO Eric Stiles praised Trump – it’s disgusting
“Trump National is demonstrating an outstanding commitment to sustaining native wildlife populations.” said Eric Stiles, President for New Jersey Audubon. “They are solidifying a symbiotic relationship with the surrounding community to foster environmental awareness and a conservation ethic while enhancing wildlife and natural systems in New Jersey.”We assume that the NJ Audubon Trump Partnership is a contract that also can be severed.
But that’s not all.
Trump has been a long time major financial contributor to NJ Audubon.
Based on NJ Audubon’s Annual Reports, Trump has donated “more than $1,000” since 2015, as follows:
- 2018 Annual Report – Trump gave “over $1,000”
- 2017 Annual Report – Trump gave “over $1,000”
- 2016 Annual Report – Trump gave “over $1,000”
- 2015 Annual Report – Trump have over $1,000″
We do not know how much “over $1,000” Trump donated or for how many years that these donations were made. The total contributions could the huge.
A previous report by The NY Times regarding Trump’s tax evasion did mention that Trump claimed huge tax benefits from “conservation easements” and his so called “conservation” work at the Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, during the same timeframe he was working in partnership with NJ Audubon:
Tax records do not have the specificity to evaluate the legitimacy of every business expense Mr. Trump claims to reduce his taxable income — for instance, without any explanation in his returns, the general and administrative expenses at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey increased fivefold from 2016 to 2017.
Trump has also evading local property taxes at the golf course:
President Donald Trump is able to pay tens of thousands of dollars less in property taxes on his New Jersey golf courses because of a goat herd, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Is that an example of the “symbiotic” relationship Mr. Stiles of NJA referred to? It sounds like parasitism to me.
We call on NJ Audubon CEO Eric Stiles to immediately issue a public statement that severs all ties with Trump, including the following:
1) terminates the Trump Partnership;
2) discloses all Trump financial contributions to NJ Audubon, including any conservation easements and tax related benefits Trump generated via NJ Audubon work;
3) refunds all Trump financial contributions; and
4) apologizes to the public for supporting Trump
NJ media must hold NJ Audubon accountable and report on this issue.
We also call on all NJ conservation and environmental groups to shame NJ Audubon & refuse to work with them until they fully disclose, terminate, refund, and apologize for Trump partnerships.
We call on all Foundations that contribute to Trump to stop all financial support until this happens.
We call on the members on NJ Audubon to call CEO Eric Stiles TODAY and make that demand and if he refuses to resign.
Do it NOW!