College Cheating Scandal Should Focus On Donald Trump Wharton/Fordham Transcripts (#GotBitcoin?)

“I went to the Wharton School of Business,” Donald Trump routinely brags at his campaign rallies. “I’m, like, a really smart person.”College Cheating Scandal Should Focus On Donald Trump Wharton/Fordham Transcripts

And I’m, like, really? We don’t believe you. We think you’re full of it, just like you grossly exaggerate and lie about virtually everything else pertaining to your personal and professional life (note the Politifact study illustrating he tells the truth just 1% of the time).

On paper, Trump’s educational background appears impressive. He first attended Fordham University and then transferred in 1966 to the real estate studies program at Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree.

But contrary to his self-aggrandizing over-the-top embellishing, Trump’s two years at the prestigious business school, from all public accounts, seem mediocre at best. His fellow students have no recollection of him. No Dean’s List, no Honor Roll, no notable extra-curricular accomplishments. A completely unmemorable academic existence, including continuing rumors that his grades were unimpressive.

So is the Republican front-runner—the man who questions President Obama and Sen. Ted Cruz’s citizenship, and who calls everyone in government “stupid,” an academic fraud? Is his self-purported “smarts” as mythical as the Muslims he claims were dancing in the streets following the 9/11 attacks?

The “Transcripter” movement demands that Trump release his full Fordham and Wharton transcripts. It’s time for him to prove just how smart he is, or isn’t. Let’s see the grades. I suspect his GPA never cracked 3.0, which is why the transcripts remain a hidden mystery.

The Hypocrisy Of Trump’s Refusal To Release His Tax Returns

n an interview with the Associated Press, presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump revealed that he will not release any of his tax returns before election day.

Previously, Trump blamed an ongoing audit for his failure to release returns, an excuse that was questioned by tax experts. As recently as Sunday, Trump pledged to release the returns “as fast as the auditors finish.” Last October, Trump said he would release his tax returns once Hillary Clinton released her emails. Now, Trump adds that he’s not planning to release them because “there’s nothing to learn from them” and voters aren’t interested in the information.

The announcement is a sharp break from historical precedent. Although the number of years for which they’ve released tax returns vary, every party nominee since 1976 has released some. Fifteen years of Hillary Clinton’s tax returns are available online.

Signing a recent tax return- isn’t this ridiculous? pic.twitter.com/UdwqF4iZIZ

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2016

It’s also a sharp break from Trump’s own advice to Mitt Romney. In January 2012, Trump told Greta Van Sustren that Romney “was hurt really very badly” by his initial refusal to release his tax returns. He advised Romney to “release them now.”

Romney released his 2010 return and a summary of his 2011 return later that month. After Romney released his full 2011 tax return in September, Trump praised Romney for releasing his returns and said they were “very honorably done.” Although Trump now claims no one is interested in reviewing tax returns, he said he personally reviewed Romney’s, calling them “absolutely beautiful and perfect.”

He then advised Romney to offer to release more years of tax returns in exchange for Obama’s college transcripts and passport records.

What’s driving Trump’s reluctance to release his returns? One possibility is that the underlying rationale for Trump’s candidacy is that he’s a highly successful businessman and he will make “great deals” for America. As proof, Trump mostly relies on a single page report listing his assets that he claims proves he’s worth over $10 billion.

That document, however, is easily manipulated because it relies on Trump assigning values to nebulous assets — including his own “brand” at over $3 billion. (A subsequent financial disclosure Trump filed with the FEC only lists broad ranges of values for assets.)

Tax returns, however, are not as easily manipulated. They could show that Trump is much less wealthy than he claims. One imagines that if Trump’s returns validated his business success he’d be eager to release them.