Millions of Americans work hard and pay their taxes. So why doesn't Donald Trump pay his? pic.twitter.com/WLSzIz0ewG— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 3, 2016
Hillary Clinton Asks: “What Kind Of ‘Genius’ Loses $1 Billion In A Single Year?”
On the campaign trail in Ohio today, Democratic presidential candidate brought up the Sunday talk show defense by Donald Trump’s surrogates regarding the weekend revelations of Trump’s 1995 tax return.
“What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year?” Clinton asked.
Watch below.
.@HillaryClinton on Trump: “Here’s my question: What kind of genius loses $1 billion in a single year?” https://t.co/VLQiBPRjNG— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 3, 2016
Did Marla Maples Leak Donald Trump’s 1995 Tax Return?
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As political junkies and pundits wonder who might have leaked Donald Trump’s 1995 tax return to the New York Times, some folks have started looking in the direction of Trump wife number two, Marla Maples.
Since she was married to the Donald at that time, her name is on the joint return, and state laws in New York and Connecticut allow taxpayers to release returns to outside parties with only one of the filers signatures.
Medium has more details:
It’s also unlikely that she would be violating her confidentiality agreement with Mr. Trump by leaking these returns. I spoke to two lawyers that specialize in family law and both told me that they have never seen a restriction around tax returns in a prenup or settlement agreement. They have seen such restrictions when it comes to financial statements, investment records but it would be hard for Mr. Trump to demand that Ms. Maples own tax information be kept private. If Ms. Maples did indeed leak these returns, it would also absolve the Times of any criminal or civil penalties.
Despite the fact that the Trump campaign said that the Times is “an extension of the Clinton campaign”, they’re not (after all they broke the email server story in March of 2015). The Times had these returns for ten days and took their reporting on these returns seriously — even going so far as hiring tax experts to analyze the returns. They sought a comment from the Trump campaign, they spoke to the accountant who prepared and signed the returns.
So it would be highly unusual for them to not contact Ms. Maples about the tax returns given that her name is on all of the returns and her signature is on the New Jersey return. Yet the Times, in their story, does not indicate that they contacted Ms. Maples. Even if she didn’t return their calls or emails, they would still indicate that they reached out to her and had not heard back.
When Donald Trump Criticized President Obama For “Only” Paying 20.5% Tax Rate
In the aftermath of the New York Times’ bombshell article showing Donald Trump probably paid no personal income taxes for 18 years, it’s amusing to take a walk down Twitter Lane with the Trumpster.
Remember that time he criticized President Obama for “only” paying a 20.5% effective tax rate?
Now we find out Trump pays a 0% income tax rate. That means 0% for our military, 0% for our veterans, 0% for roads, bridges and schools.
And yet, Trump will rant about the poor status of our infrastructure and airports, etc.
Things that make you go “hmm….”
Rudy Giuliani: Trump Is A Genius For Losing $916 Million
Watching Rudy Giuliani on CNN’s “State of the Union” this morning was an adventure in twisted logic.
CNN’s Jake Tapper attempted get straight answers from Giuliani regarding the latest Trump bombshell concerning his income taxes via the New York Times, but to little avail. Giuliani appeared a bit wild-eyed at times trying to get his approved “talking points” across.
Watch below.
Trump Tax Returns: Business Failures May Have Kept Him From Paying Taxes For 18 Years
An anonymous source has mailed three pages of Donald Trump’s 1995 income tax returns to a reporter at the New York Times.
The pages indicate that Trump declared a $916 million loss that year in connection to the “mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos, his ill-fated foray into the airline business and his ill-timed purchase of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan,” the newspaper reports.
Trump lost almost $1 billion in one year running casinos??? Think on that for a minute.
According to the NYT, the loss could have allowed Trump to avoid paying federal income taxes up to $50 million for the next 18 years.
Trump’s campaign issued a statement which read, in part:
“Mr. Trump is a highly-skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required. That being said, Mr. Trump has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes, sales and excise taxes, real estate taxes, city taxes, state taxes, employee taxes and federal taxes, along with very substantial charitable contributions.”
“Mr. Trump knows the tax code far better than anyone who has ever run for President and he is the only one that knows how to fix it.”
The New York Times has obtained portions of Donald Trump’s 1995 income tax returns that indicate he may not have paid any federal income taxes for almost two decades.
The three pages from Trump’s tax returns, which were mailed to the NYT by an anonymous source, showed that Trump declared a $916 million loss that year due to “mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos, his ill-fated foray into the airline business and his ill-timed purchase of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan,” the newspaper reports.
The loss would have allowed Trump to avoid paying federal income taxes on up to $50 million for each of the ensuing 18 years, the NYT notes. One of Trump’s lawyers has already threatened to sue the NYT for publishing the returns, but his campaign appeared to confirm the validity of the newspaper’s report in a statement.
“Mr. Trump is a highly-skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required,” the statement said. “That being said, Mr. Trump has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes, sales and excise taxes, real estate taxes, city taxes, state taxes, employee taxes and federal taxes.”
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the NYT’s scoop is the fact that the person who mailed the pages from Trump’s tax returns to the newspaper listed their return address as Trump Tower.
Donald Trump Will “Absolutely” Release His Tax Returns
The Hillary Clinton campaign is not letting up on Donald Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns even though every presidential candidate for the past four decades has.
The Trumpster says he can’t because he’s currently being audited. But the IRS says there’s no reason he can’t release those returns.
Reporters have asked him to release even his 2008 returns – which are not being audited – but the Trump campaign still dodges.
You have to wonder what it is that he’s hiding. The Clinton campaign’s newest ad asks that question and more.
“If I decide to run for office I’ll produce my tax returns — absolutely,” Trump says at the beginning of the ad, highlighting yet another of his now infamous flip-flops.
When ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked, “What is your tax rate?” Trump responded, “It’s none of your business.”
Why The Clintons Pay A Lot In Taxes
Mitt Romney On Donald Trump “It Is Disqualifying To Refuse To Release Tax Returns”
The 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney took to Facebook today to denounce Donald Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns, as every presidential candidate has done since 1976.
It is disqualifying for a modern-day presidential nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters, especially one who has not been subject to public scrutiny in either military or public service. Tax returns provide the public with its sole confirmation of the veracity of a candidate’s representations regarding charities, priorities, wealth, tax conformance, and conflicts of interest. Further, while not a likely circumstance, the potential for hidden inappropriate associations with foreign entities, criminal organizations, or other unsavory groups is simply too great a risk to ignore for someone who is seeking to become commander-in-chief.
Mr. Trump says he is being audited. So? There is nothing that prevents releasing tax returns that are being audited. Further, he could release returns for the years immediately prior to the years under audit. There is only one logical explanation for Mr. Trump’s refusal to release his returns: there is a bombshell in them. Given Mr. Trump’s equanimity with other flaws in his history, we can only assume it’s a bombshell of unusual size.
(Anticipating inquiries regarding my own tax release history, I released my 2010 tax returns in January of 2012 and I released my 2011 tax returns as soon as they were completed, in September of 2012.)
Hillary Clinton On Donald Trump’s Tax Returns: “Why Doesn’t He Want To Release Them?”
WATCH: @HillaryClinton: Why doesn't Donald Trump want to release his tax returns? https://t.co/R2J8mzmc3p https://t.co/12GyV9tbl3— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) May 11, 2016
We were all waiting for this.
Actually, I’m glad to see Hillary’s team pouncing on things quickly as they come up. It’s the way the game is played now.
As Hillary notes in the video, she’s got the past 8 years of her income taxes posted on her website right now.
Pony up, Trumpster.
#ImWithHer