In the ongoing dumpster fire known as the Trump fundraising effort, today Ari Melber reports that even though Trump proudly announced a few days ago that he had forgiven $45 million in personal loans he made to his campaign, it now looks like this grandiose statement may have been another lie: After Saying He Forgave Loans to Campaign, Trump Won’t Release Proof.

A week later, NBC News has learned the FEC has posted no record of Trump converting his loans to donations. The Trump Campaign has also declined requests to share the legal paperwork required to execute the transaction, though they suggest it has been submitted.

Last week, campaign spokesperson Hope Hicks said Trump was submitting formal paperwork forgiving the loan on Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Reached by NBC this week, she said the paperwork “will be filed with the next regularly scheduled FEC report,” and declined to provide any documentation.

The delay could matter, because until Trump formally forgives the loans, he maintains the legal option to use new donations to reimburse himself.

[…]

An FEC staff member tells NBC News there is no new filing changing Trump’s loans. The FEC’s candidate tracking page, which posts filings, does not show new paperwork from Trump changing his loans.

Even the remote possibility that Trump could tap new donations to pay himself fed skepticism among GOP donors, who wanted assurances that money intended for the election would not end up in Trump’s own pockets.

I’ve never seen a campaign like this; even the Republican Party’s richest, most loyal donors are afraid to give money to their own nominee because they think he might rip them off!