$6M lawsuit seeks to force grossman to pay $6 million in federal taxes

The National Association of Counties and National Taxpayers Union filed a lawsuit Monday against former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his political action committee over a deal that allowed him to avoid paying taxes on millions of dollars in campaign donations.

Bloomberg accepted a $1.1 million donation from a Chinese developer in exchange for a pledge to support a New York-based nonprofit he owns that supports Chinese investors.

The donation came on the heels of an outcry by Democrats in Congress and the White House.

In addition to the donations from the Chinese developer, Bloomberg has received a $7.5 million donation for the New York Taxi Workers’ Association, and a $5.2 million donation to the League of Conservation Voters, the group that helped register more than 2 million new voters.

Bloomberg has not yet responded to the suit.

A spokesman for Bloomberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, the National Association for Counties said it had received the complaint and “will respond as soon as we can.”

The tax-exempt nonprofit organization is a nonprofit group that helps low-income Americans, particularly seniors, who are unable to pay their federal income taxes.

A spokeswoman for Bloomberg declined to comment.

Bloomberg, who became mayor in 2014, received nearly $8 million in donations from foreign corporations during the 2016 election cycle, according to federal filings.

Bloomberg’s political action committees are required to disclose all donations, though the groups have not yet provided the full details.

The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit that tracks political donations, estimated that the contributions from the developer alone cost the city more than $3 million in 2016 alone.

The New York attorney general’s office is also investigating whether the city improperly used foreign money to pay for Bloomberg’s campaigns.

A city investigation is also under way into whether Bloomberg’s campaign finance filings included a tax-avoidance arrangement that allowed foreign corporations to avoid U.S. taxes.

The nonprofit advocacy group Democracy 21 and the National Taxpayer Union filed the lawsuit Monday on behalf of the city of New York and a group of citizens, arguing that Bloomberg and the political action groups did not adequately disclose their campaign contributions.

Bloomberg was first elected mayor of New Yorkers in 2010.