Our $10,000 bounty for Donald Trump's tax return is back on. Let us explain why.

Last year, we had a similar offer for then candidate Trump, one which was only half serious. Things have since changed. We now have a number of people in positions of great power who apparently feel they're no longer beholden to the rest of us and can do as they please without consequence. This attitude is nothing new, but the scale of it today is quite unprecedented.

There is no law that compels the President to release this information. But being the first in modern history to refuse to do this creates a very unhealthy environment of mistrust and suspicion, one which ultimately hurts us all. And right now, the only thing that can begin the healing process is a good dose of truth. We need to find out if there's a liar and a cheat in the White House or if some kind of a witch hunt is underway by his detractors. Continuing to withhold information that has traditionally been made public is the stuff of dictatorship, not the society we all build and maintain.

We are well aware of privacy concerns as they relate to the citizens of our country. However, when you assume an incredible position of power, one that literally affects each and every one of your fellow citizens, some of the privacy previously enjoyed while not in that position winds up being sacrificed. The rest of us know your schedule, who you're talking to, all kinds of personal details from your past, and what you're generally up to each and every day. This is how the game is played and nobody is forced to be a part of it. Unilaterally changing the rules only invites the casting of aspersions over the person, the office, and everything related. It's a dark road to go down.

So here is what we're after. We're looking for the complete federal tax returns for:

Donald John Trump

721 Fifth Avenue

Apartment 66N

New York, NY 10022

The returns must be from 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, or 2015. We believe any of these will paint a somewhat accurate picture of the President's recent financial filings. At the very least, we'll have something, as opposed to the blank slate we have now.

We are pledging $10,000 to the first person who gets any of these to us, provided they have not been disclosed to any other media outlet or already made public. This offer is only valid while Trump is in office.

A number of people have expressed an interest in adding to the bounty to bring the number up to a significantly higher level. We support this, but we want to be clear on a few things. We fully expect negative repercussions as a result of our stand here. While we will make every effort to shield anyone else from such actions, please understand that there is always a risk when challenging an authority such as this. We're doing it because we feel obligated to and because we think we might be able to reach people who can reveal the truth. Please only join the effort if you've thought it through carefully.

If you want to contribute to the total, we're keeping it really simple. Just email trump@2600.com and tell us how much you'd be willing to add to the total if our above conditions are met. That's it. You likely will never hear anything from us because we actually believe the chances of someone getting us the documents are fairly slim. However, if we do get them and we verify their authenticity, you will get an email informing you of this and asking you to fulfill your pledge in one of a number of methods which will be disclosed at that time. You can change your mind, but we will not release the documents until the full amount pledged/announced is raised so that we're able to fulfill our end of the bargain to the submitter. Right now, that amount is set at $10,000 and we're guaranteeing it. (If and when we receive significant amounts of pledges, we will update the figure.)

The above email address may be used for all communications on this subject. You can use our PGP key below if you want to add a level of security when emailing. The meta-data will still be visible, but not the contents of your email to us. And there are already many people emailing that address, so that in itself shouldn't be cause for concern. But we're deliberately not going full throttle with anonymity because we want this to be as simple as possible for many people to participate in and also because we want to be as open and transparent about this as we can. That said, we will always protect our sources and contributors to the fullest extent possible.

Finally, let us be clear on what we DON'T want. This is not an appeal for people to hack the IRS and attempt to liberate these documents in that manner. First off, we strongly doubt they have this information on any site accessible from the outside world. Second, we don't want people getting themselves into trouble over this. We believe there are enough people out there who already have legitimate access to this information who will see its disclosure as the right thing to do.

We will post any updates as they happen here and on our @2600 Twitter account.