Looking forward to the debate questions on this on Tuesday.
So he's either one of the least successful businessmen ever, or his tax returns are fraudulent. Hahhah I just gave you a false choice. It very well could be both. To whom does he owe $421 million worth of debt?
I read this hole report today, and although I suppose I'm not surprised that he's been evading taxes (especially after reading this classic a couple of years ago: Trump received $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s real estate empire, much of it through tax dodges in the 1990s ), I do find it somewhat surprising how crude his methods seem to be? Courts have held that to treat residences as businesses for tax purposes, owners must show that they have “an actual and honest objective of making a profit,” typically by making substantial efforts to rent the property and eventually generating income. [...] In 2014, Eric Trump told Forbes that “this is really our compound.” I mean, how easy is it to get away with tax evasion in the US? This is some schoolyard shit! From my point of view, it's clear that he has done something illegal, for example: And Mr. Trump does appear to have received something. When the casino bankruptcy concluded, he got 5 percent of the stock in the new company. And judging by the brazenness of the two examples I highlighted, there must be more, and lots of it. However, I have the impression that if you're rich enough in the US, you can get away with anything, if only by dragging out court battles. What's your feeling on this? Do you think there's any chance at all that Trump will end up in jail? Or at the very least lose his fortune? I have an ominous feeling that when the chips fall, it'll turn out that everything he did was legal due to various loopholes his tax lawyers found.The tax records reveal another way Seven Springs has generated substantial tax savings. In 2014, Mr. Trump classified the estate as an investment property, as distinct from a personal residence. Since then, he has written off $2.2 million in property taxes as a business expense [...].
A partner who walks away from a business with nothing — what tax laws refer to as abandonment — can suddenly declare all the losses on the business that could not be used in prior years. But there are a few catches, including this: Abandonment is essentially an all-or-nothing proposition. If the I.R.S. learns that the owner received anything of value, the allowable losses are reduced to just $3,000 a year.
I've seen a lot of coverage on this where the author would presumably retort "Lose what fortune?! harrharrharr". Everyone seems to be forgetting that this is all reporting on something Trump claimed to the IRS. It could be that (at least since the bankruptcies, hopefully those are harder to fake?) his businesses have actually turned a profit, and his IRS paperwork is the most brazen/sloppy lying in a tax fraud scheme literally ever. Either way, it shouldn't take long to show a massive disparity between the IRS records and how Trump has represented himself to e.g. Deutsche bonk when begging for loans. I don't think there's a way to loophole one's way outta that pickle, but I'm not in the business of ripping off my fellow countrymen. If prosecutors have the IRS forms, why go after Mazars? Because any prosecution wants to de-fang the "oh I didn't have anything to do with it, all the corrupt tax dodging was cooked up by my dirty accountant!" argument before it's ever made, and maybe even add a count of perjury along the way if they play their cards right. The only way Trump will be held accountable is if he leaves the White House this coming January. And gee golly, it's almost like he knows that, and it explains some of his recent actions and statements. Like I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, it's possible that the NY AG could attempt to bring charges against him, which Bill Barr and a 6-3 SCOTUS would laugh out of town. Then, they'd claim to have established precedent for state-level prosecutions of a sitting president, namely that they're not allowed. Trump would become explicitly more untouchable. If this wasn't The October Surprise, I can't wait to see what comes out next. Not that it will change any minds. So I guess for historical purposes? "Hey remember when you still voted for Trump after heWhat's your feeling on this? Do you think there's any chance at all that Trump will end up in jail? Or at the very least lose his fortune?
That seems like a pretty believable theory to me. I really hope you're right (and that the fucker loses the election). I don't think anyone has ever deserved to lose more, he's far worse than Nixon.The only way Trump will be held accountable is if he leaves the White House this coming January. And gee golly, it's almost like he knows that, and it explains some of his recent actions and statements
The other side of the matchbox. Um, so, I don't think the IRS records and Deutsche Bank loan application(s) are gonna be in very good agreement :((. Thank Saint Billy Barr that it doesn't really matter! :))
"56 percent said they would be less likely to vote for Mr. Trump if his justice would help overturn Roe v. Wade, while just 24 percent said they would be more inclined to vote for him." That is a scientific poll of changing opinion and what, specifically, would change that opinion. 950 likely voters, Sept 22-24 phone poll.
Move them goalposts! You know why you're always mad? Because you ignore all evidence that doesn't make you mad. The simple argument here is that more than half of voters polled said their mind would change. Doesn't mean Trump loses, doesn't mean Bernie gets his sainthood, means that there is statistical evidence that minds can change vis a vis Trump. Only thing we're talking about here, buddy. You can absolutely say "everything here is shit" but when I say "technically that's a dandelion growing over there" you're wrong. Simply.
Yeah dude, it has. You went from "Nobody has an opinion on the man that is capable of changing" to "Poll data last time said he would lose" and now we're at "I don't believe in polls" to "I believe a Trumpster is perfectly happy to lie to your face about who they support" despite the fact that "shy Trump voters" are such a tired saw that there are several hits a week going back two months. In three statements you have gone from "nobody has an opinion capable of changing" to there is no evidence you can show me that indicates Trump voters don't lie about everything to everyone.
Conservatives have learned that the label of 'feminist' doesn't have a hard and fast definition so they get to apply to any and every woman with a conservative viewpoint and any argument against them is sexist because this time it's a woman taking away peoples healthcare.
The logic contortions that go into stating, without irony, that "feminists" like Barrett recognize that they wouldn't be able to hold the jobs they hold without the women's movement, but they nonetheless reject all of its central tenets, would make the cast of Cirque du Soleil wince.
I can walk you through it. "Fairness" is a big conservative principle. If anything, I would say that conservatives lean into fairness as hard as liberals lean into empathy. So whatever bleeding hard liberal bullshit free government healthcare saves Mitch McConnell, it's only "fair" that they use it since it's available to everyone. If they take it away, that too is "fair" because there's nothing preventing anyone from using the same perks and advantages they have. And in general, Republicans got to where they are by working hard, so it's only fair that they reap the benefits. If someone else worked harder but didn't make it quite as far, well, that's as fair as it can be because as we all know, life isn't fair so we better make sure we all get our fair shake - I mean, the Emancipation Proclamation made it so that all men are created equal and if white men get further than white women, it's because on a level playing field they just do better. I mean, you wouldn't really have Amy Coney Barrett turn down the advantages that are availble to people like Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, would you? And look - she made it all the way to the House of Representatives! Clearly the system is working for everyone. The fact that Herman Cain was a successful black conservative entrepreneur is proof positive that anyone black can be a successful conservative entrepreneur, the fact that he's the only one has a lot more to do with how traditionally lazy black men are than any systemic problems of equity. It's that easy.
I don't think that this will change any minds, either. It's not as if he was going to write "money launderer" as his occupation. I'm just stunned that after 5 years, someone finally leaked it. I thought that since we've gone this long with every journalist in the business hungry for these docs and yet getting nothing, that it just wasn't a possibility.
It's gotta be someone in the IRS, right? The NYTimes has to have been sifting through the information for at least a month or two, but maybe prosecutors have had at least some of this info longer than we thought?. This could be a way of leveraging public outcry against Trump's court system stalling on the Mazar's side of the tax returns. But, again, it is known that SDNY (Vance) has Deutsche Bank loan application records. There's no way a bank provides hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to someone telling the bank that they lose hundreds of millions of dollars each year routinely. This is a 100% chance of tax fraud. Here's some more good news: If you're taking state tax refunds, that's state-level criminal tax fraud, right? Even if it's based on a federal filing? If so, you can expect the NY AG to attempt prosecution. The argument/precedent that a sitting president cannot be indicted only applies to federal crimes. I'm also floored that this info found its way out, but this is now a full-blown cult we're talking about. /r/conservative is floating better legal defenses of Trump than the man himself, but this is unprincipled and morally reprehensible behavior. For the billionth time. I don't give a fuck if it's TeChNiCaLLy LeGaL, we should be able to agree that it's flat-out wrong to live a life of excess while giving nothing back. But we can't! Despite it being Christians endorsing blatantly anti-Christian behavior. It's time for a fuckin' family meeting, America. It's up to people like us. Our institutions and media have failed us. We have to initiate the healing at a personal level. Guitar? Not a bad place to start.The newspaper said Trump initially paid $95 million in taxes over the 18 years it studied. But he managed to recover most of that money by claiming — and receiving — a stunning $72.9 million federal tax refund. According to the Times, Trump also pocketed $21.2 million in state and local refunds, which are typically based on federal filings.
Yep, the NY AG is specifically investigating whether Trump inflated his assets for favorable bank loans and tax write-offs. It's not clear how long each entity has had access to the tax returns, but I would guess that the NYTimes story took at least six weeks to put together. Whether or not NYT waited to publish closer to the election is a good question, though. Obviously, the timeline is still a bit muddy, for now. Leaking the returns could be a last-ditch effort from SDNY. We know that Bill Barr's all up in their shit, no doubt in an effort to shield Trump from accountability.
I don't think someone in the IRS would do that knowing that they will be found out in like a minute. My guess is that it's someone, a Deep Stater at DoJ, say, who has a serious bone to pick with him. That person is probably more savvy at how investigations would proceed, and knows how to cover their tracks. There are probably so many people who have seen them at this point, however, that there could be multiple sources.