Federal Judge: Hand Over Trump's Tax Returns To Manhattan D.A.

(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)

Worth keeping an eye on:

A federal judge on Monday dismissed President Trump’s lawsuit seeking to block the Manhattan district attorney from obtaining the president’s tax returns as part of an investigation into hush-money payments during the 2016 campaign.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero rejected Trump’s argument that the presidency makes him immune to any investigation by any prosecutor.

In his 75-page ruling, Marrero called such a claim “extraordinary” and wrote, “This Court cannot endorse such a categorical and limitless assertion of presidential immunity from judicial process.”

The order would allow District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. (D) to enforce a subpoena he sent to Trump’s longtime accountants, Mazars USA. Trump had filed an unorthodox lawsuit seeking to stop that subpoena, saying that he would suffer “irreparable harm” if prosecutors obtained his tax returns. The Justice Department also took Trump’s side in the case.

But moments after the ruling Monday, Trump’s private attorneys asked the New York-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to intervene to put the case on hold. The appeals court responded soon after, issuing a temporary stay pending review by a three-judge panel of the court.

It's revealing that the attorneys for crime family dumb don Donald "The Chosen One" Trump would say having his tax returns made available to prosecutors would cause him "irreparable harm." That doesn't sound like he's someone who's innocent of, oh, tax fraud, campaign finance law violations ("Individual 1"), bank fraud, etc.  In Trump's case, "irreparable harm" can be defined as "jail time."

Trump's Tax Information Confirms He's A Fraud And A Loser

The New York Times got a hold of con artist and world- class moron Donald "Rump" Trump's tax information from 1985- 1994 and they show (spoiler alert!) Trump's as bad at business as he is at everything else:

By the time his master-of-the-universe memoir “Trump: The Art of the Deal” hit bookstores in 1987, Donald J. Trump was already in deep financial distress, losing tens of millions of dollars on troubled business deals, according to previously unrevealed figures from his federal income tax returns.

Mr. Trump was propelled to the presidency, in part, by a self-spun narrative of business success and of setbacks triumphantly overcome. He has attributed his first run of reversals and bankruptcies to the recession that took hold in 1990. But 10 years of tax information obtained by The New York Times paints a different, and far bleaker, picture of his deal-making abilities and financial condition. [snip]

In fact, year after year, Mr. Trump appears to have lost more money than nearly any other individual American taxpayer, The Times found when it compared his results with detailed information the I.R.S. compiles on an annual sampling of high-income earners. His core business losses in 1990 and 1991 — more than $250 million each year — were more than double those of the nearest taxpayers in the I.R.S. information for those years.

Over all, Mr. Trump lost so much money that he was able to avoid paying income taxes for eight of the 10 years. It is not known whether the I.R.S. later required changes after audits. (our emphasis)

The Times piece is a deep dive into the leaked tax information and his mounting failures in business and pathological need to present himself as a "winner" when he was anything but. If it hasn't been utterly obvious before, the Times piece makes it crystal clear that this is a main reason why he's been so desperate to hide his tax returns -- his business career has been that of a bumbling megamoney- losing machine. Another would be "questionable" =cough= tax fraud =cough= reporting of interest income.  Another would be the financing of his shambolic "empire" by Russian oligarchs and organized crime.  Seeing his more recent tax returns would provide a trove of information on his continuing failures, felonious conduct and reasons why he wants to stay so close to Putin.  They would reveal someone whose career in business and politics was based on the most shoddy, shabby, shady foundation imaginable.  Stay tuned.

Head over there and take time to read the whole sordid piece.

Before you do, here's one of the choice passages:

As with many things Trump, his adventures in the stock market were more image than substance, helped greatly by news reports quoting anonymous sources said to have knowledge of Mr. Trump’s actions. An occasional quote from an associate — including his stockbroker, Alan C. Greenberg — helped burnish the myth.

“He has an appetite like a Rocky Mountain vulture,” Mr. Greenberg, the legendary chairman of Bear Stearns, told The Wall Street Journal in 1987. “He’d like to own the world.”

In his actions, Mr. Trump was more like a peacock.  (our emphasis)

Ouch! 

BONUS: As Susanne Craig, the Pulitzer Prize winning co-author of the piece notes, it was always about a spoiled brat spending and losing his daddy's (and others') millions:

FATHER & SON: We now have tax info on Fred Trump & Donald Trump for a number of years. The upshot: Fred always made a lot of money. Donald always lost a lot of money. For a reminder on just how rich Fred was, here’s our 2018 tax fraud investigation. https://t.co/9is4ZcpOY4

— Susanne Craig (@susannecraig) May 7, 2019

BONUS II:  

As a narcissist, Trump’s worst nightmare is being exposed as unworthy of admiration.

His entire adult life has been an act to convince people he is someone his father would have loved.

This story is his worst outing: he’s a lifelong loser who failed at daddy’s business.

8/8

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) May 8, 2019

Something To Hide

Tomorrow is the deadline for filing taxes (or an extention), and sociopath and Putin loyalist Donald "Rump" Trump will again to refuse to release his for the public, breaking four decades of Presidential precedent. His most recent refrain is that the public doesn't care and they voted for him anyway, even though a Global Strategies poll conducted April 5 - 9 indicted that 80% of Americans want Rump to release his tax returns, including 64% of Republicans.

Until recently, he's claimed that since the IRS is auditing his previous years' tax returns, he can't release them, a lie because the IRS has stated that there's nothing preventing him from releasing his taxes, audit or no audit. He's not able to use that dodge with his 2016 tax returns, since they're not under audit.

What's in Rump's tax returns that he's so willing to buck overwhelming public opinion? Loans and investments from Russian oligarchs or Chinese banks? Continued financial connections with mobbed-up individuals or companies? Creative bookkeeping to hide his income? Likely yes, yes, and yes, and more. Whether he gives to charity (himself probably through self-dealing foundations) or not would only be a further affirmation of his narcissism, greed and lack of empathy, so that's not it. He's hiding something that could cripple his hold on power. That's why we need disclosure and why he won't give it.

Leaker-In-Chief: The Art Of Distraction

Let's take a moment for a little diversion while we wait for TrumpCare to finish circling the drain. Some folks are speculating today on whether or not neo- fascist con artist Donald "Rump" Trump "leaked"the two pages from his 2005 personal tax returns to David Cay Johnston, which was then reported on by Rachel Maddow on MSNBC last night (the returns showed Rump paid income tax that year). Setting aside the (to us) less important question of whether Johnston and Maddow were played, a few observers came out fairly quickly with their analysis of what last night's little drama was all about:

The Trump camp released one positive tax return to distract from Russia hearings and the Trumpcare meltdown. That's painfully obvious. https://t.co/NLBVPJhwg6

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) March 15, 2017

Client copy, unsigned. Immediate response, with numbers, from Trump. No need to search through files to find 2005 return! No doubt https://t.co/GWuVV4i5dU

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) March 15, 2017

It is interesting how quickly the White House responded with highly detailed tax information.

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) March 15, 2017

Crazy theory:
1. This is most innocuous of all his returns
2. They leaked it to diffuse all further inquiries with "It's old news."

— Paul Waldman (@paulwaldman1) March 15, 2017

Jen Hayden at Daily Kos has a pretty decent rundown on why a portion of this particular tax return was leaked by Rump, including: Rump's history of leaking, the immediate White House/ family response, the tax return was favorable to Rump, and the timing of the leak in the midst of the TrumpCare meltdown (or new information about his Russian connections?).  But, to quickly dispatch the question at hand, to us the "smoking gun" was this page of his return, with the stamp "Client Copy" right there for all to see:


(Attribution: screen shot via Daily Kos)

That would mean this didn't come from the IRS or some "Deep State" anti- Rump warrior, but from the incompetent conspiracy monger himself. Only dolts like Rump and his henchmen would send this clearly marked client copy to Johnston, and then have their faux hissy fit all ready to go when it came out. Imagine if their multi- dimensional chess moves weren't so blatantly half- assed. (As Bill Maher said, "I can't believe Putin paid full price for this guy.") They can't even pull off a "sting" without Rump leaving his tiny fingerprints all over things.

Once again, as far as the "why now?":

Slightly interested in Trump tax returns. Enormously interested in the attempt to take away health care from millions of American families.

— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) March 15, 2017

That's the focus, folks.

On The Trump-Russia Scandal, "Follow The Money"

Folks who lived through or are students of the Watergate scandal are probably familiar with the phrase, "Follow the money." That was the clue to how investigators finally got to the root of the scandal that led to the impeachment and resignation of Richard Nixon.

The unfolding Trump - Russia scandal is so far focused on Russian hacking in the 2016 to boost the prospects of neo- fascist Putin poodle Donald "Rump" Trump. That's the focus (if you can call it that at this point) of the Senate Intelligence Committee inquiry as well as what's been made public about the FBI's investigation.  Every day, new revelations are coming out about contacts between top advisors like son- in- law Jared Kushner and Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III and Russian officials.

However, beyond the welter of contacts between members of Rump's inner circle and Russian officials or go- betweens is the real unanswered question at the heart of the matter: what do the Russians have on Rump that makes him so pliable to their national interests? That's something that can only be resolved with a forensic review of Rump's tax returns, which he adamantly refuses to release.

Here's Norman Eisen, former ambassador to the Czech Republic and White House ethics czar under President Obama, getting right to the point (h/t Raw Story):

Fmr. WH Czar says Trump camp's connections with Russia have "that Watergate feel to it" https://t.co/9MCoCVz4zc

— New Day (@NewDay) March 3, 2017

BONUS:  More on "follow the money."

Your regular reminder that at the center of this engima wrapped in a riddle tucked inside a mystery are the tax returns.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) March 2, 2017

History will puzzle over how it took so long to get to where everyone knows this Russian scandal is going.

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 3, 2017

Quote Of The Day - Genius!

“I did all the tax preparation. He never saw the product until it was presented to him for signature.” -- Jack Mitnick, neo- fascist tax evader Donald "Rump" Trump's accountant who prepared Rump's 1995 personal (not corporate) tax return, in which he claimed a $915 million loss.  Rump and his oily surrogates have been loudly proclaiming Rump's "genius" for skillfully navigating the tax code to avoid paying income taxes for nearly two decades (allegedly!).  He probably had to be told where to sign.

BONUS:  Kurt Eichenwald continues to expose the business failures and tax avoidance shenanigans of Rump. His (nonexistent) business acumen ("genius!") is his sole rationale for being in the race, and the mounting evidence of his being as much of a vapid nincompoop in business as he is in all other phases of life is revealing, but not surprising.

Trump Travesties Round-Up

The onslaught of travesties in his ongoing sh*tshow are almost more than one can absorb in any 24- hour span, but here are just some of the recent ones associated with neo- fascist Paladin for Everyman Donald "Rump" Trump.  As always, there's much more to read at the links!

-- The New York Times on the working- class hero:

Incredibly, the Trump campaign argues that because he knows how to game the tax system he should be trusted to reform it. There is no evidence that he would improve tax policy, and plenty of evidence that he would confer even more tax advantages on himself. [snip] 

Every new revelation about Mr. Trump’s business career shows that he’s built his millionaire’s lifestyle on debt, tax avoidance and other people’s money. From bankrupt casinos to a so-called university, he milked them for all he could and left workers, students and taxpayers holding the bag.  (our emphasis)

--  The invaluable Kurt Eichenwald has more on the working- class hero's business dealings:

Plenty of blue-collar workers believe that, as president, Donald Trump would be ready to fight off U.S. trade adversaries and reinvigorate the country’s manufacturing industries through his commitment to the Rust Belt. What they likely don’t know is that Trump has been stiffing American steel workers on his own construction projects for years, choosing to deprive untold millions of dollars from four key electoral swing states and instead directing it to China—the country whose trade practices have helped decimate the once-powerful industrial center of the United States. (our emphasis)

-- The Trump Foundation is ordered to shut down:

The New York attorney general’s office has ordered the Trump Foundation to immediately stop fundraising in the state, saying it isn’t registered to do so. 

James Sheehan, head of the attorney general’s Charities Bureau, wrote in a letter dated Friday that the failure to stop immediately and answer demands for all delinquent financial reports within 15 days “shall be deemed a continuing fraud upon the people of the state of New York.”

Democratic Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has been investigating Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s foundation following Washington Post reports that foundation spending personally benefited the candidate. The newspaper, citing tax records, also reported that the charity has been funded entirely from outside donations since 2008, when Trump made his last contribution to it. (our emphasis)

-- Finally, you have the kind of knuckle- draggers Rump's racist campaign has encouraged and emboldened to come out from the sewers and from under the rocks into the light (hmmm, let's call them the "Deplorables").  Two examples:

The small town of Aurora, Indiana is in an uproar after a local man entered a float in the annual Farmers Fair Parade depicting Hillary Clinton sitting in an electric chair with rival Donald Trump about to pull the switch. 

According the creator of the float, which also featured a grim reaper and an Easter Island moai head in blackface labeled “Obama,” he entered it in an effort to get laughs, reports WCPO. 

And,

Jane Wood Allen, a Chestatee Elementary School educator in Gainesville, Georgia, was fired on Monday after a racist post she made about Michelle Obama went viral. [snip] 

Allen’s caption read, “This poor Gorilla. How is she going to function in the real world, by not having all of her luxurious vacations paid for anymore? She needs to focus on getting a total make-over (especially the hair), instead of planning vacations! She is a disgrace to America!”

Thirty- four days until the election.  Let's all do our part to see this awful excuse for a human being, whose presence encourages such hatefulness, never sets foot in the Oval Office.

The Genius Businessman

And..."boom goes the dynamite!"



Bernie had the best line, too!  Running on cable t.v. and in battleground states today.

Again, while we don't think this impacts the Stormtrumpers, it's a gut punch that should resonate with some voters.

BONUS:  Andy Borowitz tells us "Christie Calls Trump Genius for Plan to Burn Down White House and Collect Insurance."

Sunday Reflection

Truly, truly, I say to you: it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than to get a billionaire to pay his goddamn share.

— Daniel Schultz (@pastordan) October 2, 2016

Amen!

Even If Trump Paid No Taxes For 18 Years, Stormtrumpers Won't Care

The latest from the New York Times this morning:

Donald J. Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years, records obtained by The New York Times show. 

The 1995 tax records, never before disclosed, reveal the extraordinary tax benefits that Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, derived from the financial wreckage he left behind in the early 1990s through 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. 

Tax experts hired by The Times to analyze Mr. Trump’s 1995 records said that tax rules especially advantageous to wealthy filers would have allowed Mr. Trump to use his $916 million loss to cancel out an equivalent amount of taxable income over an 18-year period. 

Although Mr. Trump’s taxable income in subsequent years is as yet unknown, a $916 million loss in 1995 would have been large enough to wipe out more than $50 million a year in taxable income over 18 years.

So, no taxes to support infrastructure, education, health, veterans, the military, etc., etc. in 18 years? Taxes the rest of us have had to make up for while he gilts his toilets. Sure does sound like a sociopathic narcissist who said he thinks he's smart not to pay taxes.

The kicker?  There's a mole close to Rump:

The three documents arrived by mail at The Times with a postmark indicating they had been sent from New York City. The return address claimed the envelope had been sent from Trump Tower.  (our emphasis)

Hmmm. Who oh who could it be?

Here's the reaction on Twitter to #LastTimeTrumpPaidTaxes.

Now here's why it won't affect his standing one bit with his legions of  deplorables Stormtrumpers:

In a living room in western Pennsylvania, the Republican National Convention was on TV, and Melanie Austin was getting impatient. 

“Who’s that guy?” she said, watching some billionaire talk about prosperity and tolerance. “Prosperity and tolerance? Forget that sh--.” 

She lit a cigarette. Her boyfriend, Kevin Lisovich, was next to her on the couch, drifting to sleep, a pillow over his head. On the ottoman was her cellphone, her notes on the speakers so far — “LOCK HER UP!!” she had written — and the anti-anxiety pills she kept in a silver vial on her keychain. 

She was a 52-year-old woman who had worked 20 years for the railroad, had once been a Democrat and was now a Republican, and counted herself among the growing swath of people who occupied the fringes of American politics but were increasingly becoming part of the mainstream. Like millions of others, she believed that President Obama was a Muslim. And like so many she had gotten to know online through social media, she also believed that he was likely gay, that Michelle Obama could be a man, and that the Obama children were possibly kidnapped from a family now searching for them. [snip] 

The first time she had seen him, at a rally in June, she was just beginning to realize how many people saw the world the way she did, that she was one among millions. At the time, her hips were still sore from a series of injections intended to calm her. She had gotten them in February, during a difficult time in her life, when she had been involuntarily hospitalized for several weeks after what she called a “rant,” a series of online postings that included one saying that Obama should be hanged and the White House fumigated and burned to the ground. On her discharge papers, in a box labeled “medical problem,” a doctor had typed “homicidal ideation.”

(There's a lot of "economic anxiety" there, can you tell?) Of course, Stormtrumpers like this deplorable creature are motivated by a deep, irrational well of racism and xenophobia that's been nurtured and encouraged for decades, not just through "social media" but by a network of crackpot right- wingers, including Fox "News", hate radio, and online hate outlets like Breitbart and Infowars.  They're being mainstreamed in a manner unlike at any other time in recent history by neo- fascist demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump. That's why this election is a test of American democracy: if, when the menace to it has been made abundantly clear, how hard do we fight to stop it?

Thanks For Clearing That Up, Junior (UPDATED)

Now we know the real reason we won't be seeing the tax returns of neo- fascist Putin Pal and Man of Charity Donald "Rump" Trump, as explained to us common folk by his spawn, Junior:

Donald Trump Jr. says that one reason for not releasing his father’s tax returns ― a tradition followed by every major party presidential candidate in the past 40 years ― is that it would simply invite too much scrutiny from ordinary people. 

“He’s got a 12,000-page tax return that would create … financial auditors out of every person in the country asking questions that would detract from [his father’s] main message,” Trump Jr. said in an interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review published Wednesday.  (our emphasis)

It's the same reason Rump won't release his medical information, information about his "charitable contributions," or anything else about his shady life or business ventures.  Too complicated!  Too much scrutiny! No questions! (Actually, given the media's track record of normalizing and fluffing Rump, they shouldn't worry too much.) Meanwhile, what portion of Eric and Donald Trump, Jr.'s DNA do you suppose is reptilian:

When guys who look like this whine about too many questions, someone usually ends up with their brake line cut. pic.twitter.com/91OTNp6VQn

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) September 15, 2016

UPDATE:  Looks like Junior was born with a silver foot in his mouth.

Today's Cartoon - Do Not Open Until November 9

(click on image to enlarge)


(Jim Morin, Miami Herald)

As has been noted, it's not just his income tax returns that Rump's hiding;  it's also his medical records.  If there was an honest media in this country, they'd be dogging Rump every day for stonewalling on his tax returns and health records.  But, it's much more fun to create bogus story lines so you can fluff a horserace narrative, because, to quote the shitgibbon himself, "what the hell do you have to lose," amirite?!

Nyet! Trump Won't Be Releasing His Tax Returns

The Hill is reporting that neo- fascist banana Republican and Siberian candidate Donald "Rump" Trump, contrary to decades of custom, won't be releasing his tax returns.

We wonder why.

He's a tax fraud?

He didn't pay any taxes?

He lied about donating to charities?

He's dependent on loans from Putin oligarch buddies?

All of the above?

Coming on the heels of revelations that the hacking of the DNC e- mails was a Russian operation, curiously timed to benefit Rump and do damage to Hillary Clinton, added to the long- known fact that many of Rump's advisors have serious Russian connections, we're inclined to believe that what the Rump campaign fears most in his tax returns is that his business interests would be exposed as way too cozy and interdependent with the Russian despot, whose desire to weaken American interests is a given. Or, as Rump himself would speculate, "There’s something fishy about the whole thing... Obviously some people think it’s evil intentions. I think it’s incompetence. Regardless, a lot of people think it’s evil intentions... I don’t know. All I know is what’s on the Internet. Wow!"  (Credit to frequent blind squirrel Dana Milbank who riffs on this here.)

And "let's dispel once and for all with the notion" that having the IRS auditing you precludes release.  It doesn't.

Finally,

Same reporters who laughed at the idea that Donald Trump would run for president now mock the idea that he could be owned by foreign power.

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) July 27, 2016

Great moments in Republican/Russian relations:
"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
"Mr. Putin, can I borrow a few hundred million more?"

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) July 27, 2016

Note to journalists (other than Franklin Foer and Josh Marshall):  Do your f*cking jobs!

Shocking! Money-Grubbing Trump Not So Charitable After All

The once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle has a look at the claims by neo- fascist shitgibbon* Donald "Rump" Trump that he's given away millions to charity.  As with the vast majority of what comes out of Rump's pie- hole, the pathological liar does what pathological liars do:

In May, under pressure from the news media, Donald Trump made good on a pledge he made four months earlier: He gave $1 million to a nonprofit group helping veterans’ families. 

Before that, however, when was the last time that Trump had given any of his own money to a charity? [snip]

 ...[I]n the 15 years prior to the veterans’ gift, public records show that Trump donated about $2.8 million through a foundation set up to give his money away — less than a third of the pledged amount — and nothing since 2009. Records show Trump has given nothing to his foundation since 2008.  [snip]

In recent weeks, The Post tried to answer the question by digging up records going back to the late 1980s and canvassing a wide swath of nonprofits with some connection to Trump. 

That research showed that Trump has a long-standing habit of promising to give to charity. But Trump’s follow-through on those promises was middling — even at the beginning, in his early days as a national celebrity. [snip]

In recent years, Trump’s ­follow-through on his promises has been seemingly nonexistent. 

The Post contacted 188 charities searching for evidence of personal gifts from Trump in the period between 2008 and this May. The Post sought out charities that had some link to Trump, either because he had given them his foundation’s money, appeared at their charity galas or praised them publicly. 

The search turned up just one donation in that period — a 2009 gift of between $5,000 and $9,999 to the Police Athletic League of New York City.  (our emphasis)

One donation.  One, for less than $10,000, since 2009.  When he did open his wallet, Rump gave much more to the tony schools his spawn attended than to worthy charities like AIDS research and helping the homeless. We think we'd be on very safe ground to say the average middle- class American gave much more to charity in that timeframe than did this purported billionaire.

The entire article is worth a read because it shows, as if the point needed amplifying, what a lying narcissist Rump is and why he's refusing to release his tax returns.  His paltry non- existent "charitable" giving is just one more of the "bombshells" =cough= paid no taxes =cough= he's eager to hide from public view.

*Long live Scotland!

Video Of The Day: Elizabeth Warren On Donald Trump's Tax Returns

Enjoy!



BONUS:  Sen. Warren will be going on the road soon with a friend:

It might have taken Elizabeth Warren a bit longer than most of her Democratic colleagues in the Senate to endorse Hillary Clinton, but she's making up for lost time to boost the party's presumptive presidential nominee. The Clinton campaign announced Wednesday that Clinton and the liberal senator from Massachusetts are headed to Cincinnati, Ohio, to share the stage on Monday at their first public event together this election.

Be still, our hearts!

Here's Why Trump Won't Be Releasing His Tax Returns

Even if they were ever released, we're under no illusion that whatever nasty details might be lurking in neo- fascist con artist Donald "Rump" Trump's tax returns will make a difference to the struggling Stormtrumpers for whom he can do no wrong.  (It's not about tax returns to them;  it's about racial and ethnic grievance.)  It's certain, however, that Rump will not release his returns because, as expert tax avoider Willard "Mittens" Romney posited, they contain "bombshells."

For those who might care about the extent of Rump's sleazy dishonesty, stories like this might start to add up (our emphasis throughout):

Bob McIntyre of the liberal group Citizens for Tax Justice suspects Trump’s tax returns, if made public, would undermine the political image the candidate has crafted of a brilliant businessman with what his campaign has called “tremendous cash flow.”

Trump may be worried that “he’d show very little income on his tax returns compared to his wealth claims,” McIntyre said, adding that Trump’s returns could also show that he “writes off everything he has in his life — the hairdo, the plane — as business expenses.”

What evidence might support this?  We have to go back to Rump's 1981 application for a casino license:

Trump had submitted his 1978 and 1979 returns to the regulators as part of an application for a casino license. State records summarizing the returns show that Trump claimed that his combined income during those two years was negative $3.8 million, allowing him to pay no taxes. A few years earlier, he had told the New York Times he was worth more than $200 million. 

Tax analysts say it is possible that Trump pays very low income taxes, or no taxes at all, using tactics available to wealthy investors and developers, such as depreciating the value of real estate.

How does this work in practice?  Here's one example of how Rump uses tax breaks that shift local tax burdens to the average person while simultaneously inflating the value of his assets:

In Ossining, N.Y., home to a Trump National Golf Club, town officials say that a tax break being sought by the company would cost their coffers more than $200,000 a year.

In seeking the reduction, Trump’s lawyers have claimed that the club is worth far less than the roughly $15 million value assessed by the city.

Trump’s lawyers have filed papers with the state claiming that the “full market value” of the property is $1.4 million. The same golf course appears on Trump’s new financial disclosure form released this week as part of his presidential campaign — valued by him at more than $50 million.

Those are quite a few discrepancies - Rump's "full market value" of $1.4 million vs. $15 million assessed value vs. $50 million value claimed by Rump on disclosure forms!  All we can say is that it must be a pretty lame golf club to be worth only $1.4 million (maybe it's something like this)!

This goes to the heart of the legend Rump has been creating for himself as a shrewd businessman who at the same time empathizes with the burdens of the little guy who struggles in an unfair system.  In truth, Rump's a con artist who lies about his many business failures, his wealth, and his "concern" for the struggles of average Americans.  As we said, none of this is likely to sway his adoring Stormtrumper legions =cough= racists =cough= nativists =cough=.  But for the broader population, hopefully this will add another pixel to the portrait of a man completely unsuited to be President of the United States.

Romney Dings Trump On Releasing "Bombshell" Tax Returns; Trump Returns Fire

Former Republican presidential nominee and quintessence of the Republican "establishment" Willard "Mittens" Romney seems to have hit a nerve with the Republican front- runner:

Former Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Wednesday called on real estate mogul Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner in the 2016 race, to release his tax returns.

"I think in Donald Trump's case it's likely to be a bombshell," Romney said in an interview with Fox News, speculating the reason the businessman had not made his returns available to the public is because he "may not have as much income" as advertised or, even worse, that he didn't pay any taxes. [snip]

Romney's decision to speculate openly about the details of Trump's taxes is ironically similar to that of then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D), who infamously claimed in 2012 that Romney "didn't pay any taxes for 10 years." The tactic incensed the Romney campaign, which charged that Reid was floating nonsense without a shred of evidence. (our emphasis)

"Bombshell!"  Plutocrat on plutocrat action!  Let's play "Which billionaire avoided paying the most in taxes?"! (Mittens paid an effective rate of less than 15%.)  Do we think any revelation in Rump's taxes, if he ever releases them, will cause his "poorly educated" Stormtrumpers to abandon him?  Nein!

Needless to say, Donald "Rump" Trump took to his ever- present Twitter machine to respond:

Mitt Romney, who was one of the dumbest and worst candidates in the history of Republican politics, is now pushing me on tax returns. Dope!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2016

Mitt Romney,who totally blew an election that should have been won and whose tax returns made him look like a fool, is now playing tough guy

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2016

We don't know how this could get any better, but we're sure it will.