Richmond, VA — Yesterday, Axios reported that Republican Pete Snyder lied to the IRS about the amount of money his nonprofit had raised. In an IRS filing submitted under penalty of perjury, Snyder’s organization stated that they had raised less than $50,000 to date, and weren’t planning to raise more than that in the future. There’s just one problem: Snyder had boasted about seeding the organization with $100,000 just days before the filing. 

As reported by Axios:

“Virginia gubernatorial candidate Pete Snyder boasted about a cash haul for his COVID-19 relief nonprofit last year that was more than five times what it had estimated raising in a sworn statement to the IRS [...]

Early, apparently erroneous disclosures to the IRS allowed the group to shield from public view key information about its operators, operations and finances. [...]

Nonprofits that bring in more than $50,000 per year are required to provide far more granular information to the IRS, including details about executive compensation, conflict of interest policies, vendor contracts and business relationships among the groups' directors.”

Snyder’s filing allowed his organization to shield key details from the IRS. This reporting raises serious questions about Snyder’s judgement and what else he could be hiding. Why did Snyder choose to file a shorter version of the tax exemption form that allowed his organization to hide key information from the IRS? 
 
“Pete Snyder has some explaining to do. While Snyder is opposing critical COVID-19 relief for Virginians, it also turns out he’s been hiding key information from the IRS,” said Manuel Bonder, DPVA spokesman. “Instead of spending his time imitating Donald Trump and scrambling to take the most extreme positions he can, Snyder and his campaign should clear the air about why he lied to the IRS about his organization’s finances.”

###