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Yale classmates of Treasury secretary ask him to resign

NEW HAVEN — Over 330 Yale classmates of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have published a letter asking him to resign in the wake of President Trump’s co...
Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders And Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Hold White House Press Briefing

NEW HAVEN — Over 330 Yale classmates of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have published a letter asking him to resign in the wake of President Trump’s comments on the recent events in Charlottesville.

The undergraduate classmates wrote, “We believe it is your moral obligation to resign your post as Secretary of the Treasury, effective immediately. ”

The letter went on to say:

We do so today because President Trump has declared himself a sympathizer with groups whose values are antithetical to those values we consider fundamental to our sacred honor as Americans, as men and women of Yale, and as decent human beings. President Trump made those declarations loudly, clearly, and unequivocally, and he said them as you stood next to him. We can be Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Greens, and a number of other things and still be friends, classmates, and patriots, but we cannot be Nazis and white supremacists. We can disagree on the means of promoting the general welfare of the country, on the size and role of government, on the nature of freedom and security, but we cannot take the side of what we know to be evil.

Also in Washington, Democrats on the House’s tax-writing committee have sent a letter to Mnuchin, asking for his department to issue rules making it clear that hate groups don’t qualify for tax-exempt status. The letter cited prominent white nationalist Richard Spencer’s National Policy Institute, which had its tax-exempt status revoked by the government in March for its failure to file returns.

The government has allowed four groups at the forefront of the white nationalist movement, including Spencer’s, to register as charities and raise millions in tax-deductible donations over the past decade, an Associated Press review found last year.

“There is no place in modern society for hate groups, and they should be prohibited from qualifying for federal tax exemption as ‘educational’ organizations” under the tax code, the Democrats wrote.

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