'Absolutely illegal tax evasion': CNN panel says bombshell NYT report leaves no doubt Trump is a crook

Reporters Michael D'Antonio and David Cay Johnston appeared on CNN Thursday to discuss the bombshell New York Times report on the Trump family's tax evasion schemes -- and they both say the reporting leaves no doubt that the president broke the law to avoid paying taxes.

Johnston began by calling the Times report an "extraordinary" piece of journalism and he said it exposed the fraud at the heart of Trump's story of being a self-made man.

"The one thing it shows beyond the tax cheating, which I said for years, and there is no evidence Donald Trump was or is a billionaire, and it's daddy's money," he said.

D'Antonio agreed with Johnston and went on to explain that none of Trump's major buildings, including Trump Tower, would have been built without a significant injection of credit from his father, Fred Trump.

Beyond Trump's lying about the source of his wealth, however, Johnston also said that the report makes it clear that the Trump family was engaged in brazen criminal actions.

"There was absolutely illegal tax evasion," he said. "The New York Times used the phrase, 'outright fraud'... the government can still go after them for civil fraud."

Watch the interview below.