Even Trump's campaign doesn't know where the $6 million it promised to veterans went

Way back in January, after getting into a spat with Fox News, Donald Trump decided to skip the presidential debate and hold a counter-event — a fundraiser for veterans charities. His campaign reportedly raised $6 million to be distributed to 22 different charities — money that many of the charities say they have never seen, and that Trump's campaign adviser for veterans issues can't account for, The Daily Beast reports.

To date, about half of the $6 million owed has been traced by CNN and The Wall Street Journal, but the remaining money is unaccounted for. When asked about it, Trump's campaign adviser for veterans issues Al Baldasaro said, "I could ask, but it's not high on my priority list." When pressed, he said, "I'm not concerned about it, because I know [Trump is] an honorable, honest guy... you guys just want to say, 'gotcha.'"

The charity Task Force Dagger told The Daily Beast that while they received $50,000 from the Steward J. Rahr Foundation, apparently on behalf of Trump, the campaign itself has not replied to the question of if they'd be offering a contribution as well.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"A highly publicized event such as Trump's fundraiser for veterans charities ought to disclose within a few months what it has done with the funds it has raised," Daniel Borochoff, the president of the watchdog group CharityWatch, told The Daily Beast. "Given the publicity surrounding the event, I believe timely delivery of the donations is in order."