Donald Trump used his charitable foundation to pay his for-profit firms’ legal settlements. The Washington Post continues its investigation into the Donald J. Trump Family Foundation. It found that Trump used $258,000 of foundation money to settle four lawsuits involving his private businesses. Nonprofit leaders are prohibited by law from “self-dealing,” or using charity money to benefit themselves or their businesses.   

As for his tax returns… Even his supporters wonder what the holdup is. CNN Money spoke with about 70 Trump supporters in swing states Ohio and Florida. “Over and over again, voters solidly backing Trump or leaning toward him said they think Trump should release his tax returns.” 

And then there is his plan to tax partnerships. TPC Howard Gleckman reviews Trump’s ever-evolving ideas. Since last Thursday, Trump and his campaign have “produced multiple and internally inconsistent explanations of how he would tax partnerships and other pass-through businesses.” As of yesterday, at least, it was impossible to tell what rate he’d impose on this income.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch: Still unhappy with the EU over Apple. After a cordial meeting with the antitrust commissioner of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager, the Utah Republican  said  the commission “failed to build an effective case for this highly politicized ruling rooted in an erroneous interpretation of law, underscoring the need for additional action in international courts.”

This morning on the Hill. The House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on articles of impeachment referred on IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. Koskinen will be the sole witness before the Committee.

As for government spending… As the Senate continues to negotiate a short-term government funding bill before the October 1 deadline, read up on how one might reform the federal budget process to allow congressional lawmakers more discretion. A new Urban Institute and Mercatus Center study by Rudy Penner and Gene Steuerle lays out ideas including triggers in entitlement and tax programs to limit their automatic growth, more transparent reporting and informative displays of budget information, and more requirements to subject programs to periodic review and reauthorization.

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