How can he justify his tax payment & how much longer can he hang on? I know he's been bankrupt four times is it - but surely he's lost money with this virus with his businesses somehow...
I wonder if the cunt claimed back the tax for that money he paid stormy?
He'll just keep talking shit and claiming fake news like he normally does, and he'll hang on as long as possible because he has to.
If Biden does manage to take the White House (and it's still a big if unfortunately), and the Democrats can take some of the GOP Senate seats to stop that mess, then Trump is royally fucked. However, he was getting away with shady shit long before he had government officials doing his bidding, I mean the AG is doing and saying/not saying all kinds of things he shouldn't. So...
Okay, so I read the whole of that NYT article and it feels like a bit of a damp squib tbh.
For the record, I can't stand the orange buffoon and I think he's a vile human being. I would absolutely LOVE IT if the tax returns showed something really damning.
But that doesn't seem to be the case.
1. He used business losses to offset tax. So what? What big business doesn't?
2. He has massive debts. So what? Debt isn't a problem per se, as long as you can afford to service it.
3. As much as the NYT tries to paint him as a busted flush, or a business underwater, the fact is that he earns about £400m a year from licensing his name to other people's properties and another £120m from the Manhattan Trump Tower alone. Add in the Apprentice residuals and profits on the 2 or 3 Trump properties that ARE profitable (e.g. Mar-a-Lago, Doral) and he's probably getting close to a £billion in revenue per annum. I'm sure he can afford to carry a mountain of debt.
As far as I can tell, it is all tax avoidance, not tax evasion. It may be distasteful, vulgar and obnoxious, but it's not certainly not illegal.
Plenty of reason to not vote for him. Plenty of reason to vote for someone who will tighten up the tax code to prevent the worst of this shit. But there's little reason -- at least in what's been show so far -- to suggest there is anything illegal going on.
It just sounds like he has a bunch of good lawyers and accountants and he doesn't much give a shit about appearances, empathy or integrity. But we already knew that.
I'd love to see him take a live lie detector test with Jeremy Kyle!!!
What's in the NYT is not the full picture & we know that both the IRS & The State of New York Attorney's office are taking a serious look at his dealings, he may yet be charged with & found guilty of fraud.
Based solely on what is in The Times piece you are right in that there is nothing illegal documented but legality is not the only serious issue at play. The fact that Trump owes 100s of millions of dollars to foreign entities is a major concern as debt owed to foreign agents meets disqualification criteria for national security clearance as it provides leverage that would lead to the individual in question possibly being subject to coercion.
A few days before this story broke, nearly 500 national security experts, both civilian & uniform endorsed Biden. This included General Paul Selva former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the 2nd most senior role in the combined US Armed Forced & former advisor to Trump. I imagine the list may have a few more names after this
Trump is said to have $400 million in loans due to be repaid in the next few years. Eric Trump is on record as saying that his father doesn't need to use American banks, he can get it from Russia. Why Trump sides with Russia, they have him by the balls. Anyone in America applying for security clearance,their finances are examined to see if they may be susceptible to blackmail etc. Trump as president automatically gets security clearance. What a shit show Trump has done, so much harm to America's standing in the world, and Republicans are just as culpable, absolutely no scruples, just to hang on to power. Pity help America if they are stupid enough to vote him in again, it could lead to the breakup of America.
(28-09-2020 21:27 )Goodfella3041 Wrote: [ -> ]As far as I can tell, it is all tax avoidance, not tax evasion. It may be distasteful, vulgar and obnoxious, but it's not certainly not illegal.
"Donald Trump’s newly unearthed tax returns reveal that he’s either the world’s worst businessman, or he committed felony tax fraud by pretending to be the world’s worst businessman. Of course
if he told the truth in his tax returns, it means he lied to his potential lenders, which is also a felony. Either way he committed a crime; it’s just a matter of digging into the numbers and figuring out which crime(s) he committed."
^^^ That certainly seems to be the picture that the NYT and CNN are trying to paint, but the article hedges throughout. It's all just allusion and speculation.
I thought this lady was interesting on CBS News:
Tax attorney breaks down New York Times report on Trump's tax returns
You can see the anchors trying to nudge her toward the scandal, but she keeps insisting that you can't draw such conclusions from tax documents.
My own guess -- and it's just a guess -- is that Trump's businesses were used by overseas oligarchs to launder money obtained through their own corruption. That's why you don't see too many Trump towers in England, France and Germany, but you do see them in Indonesia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Real estate is notorious for attracting dark money and the Trump brand gave these projects the veneer of international legitimacy. Trump was essentially taking money from bad actors without asking too many questions.
If that's the case, then there is a crime, but it's not the crimes that CNN and NYT are talking about.
Yes, I would agree. The tax thing makes good ammunition for the Democrats, but that's probably it.
It's the revelations about how much he's personally in hock to unknown foreign 'lenders' that will have him shitting bricks.
s.d.n.y have the goods on him. they're just waiting!