Watch: Trump ridiculed over tax scandal that is entirely of his own making
Former President Donald Trump has fought the disclosure of his taxes from the early days of the 2016 election. Every president in the modern era has been willing to turn over their tax information to prove ethics are above board and for transparency purposes. At first, Trump claimed that he was under audit so he couldn't reveal anything. An audit doesn't prevent anyone from revealing whatever information they want.
"He could have released them," said New York Times reporter Susanne Craig, who was anonymously mailed some of Trump's past tax returns. "When I see this and we have come to today after how many years of Donald Trump saying he was going to release his tax returns and he doesn't. If he had just released some of them in 2016, we wouldn't be here today. It's just incredible. It's so Donald Trump to fight this to the end, even when it doesn't make sense. That's the first things — the fact that he let this get to today is incredible. It's now just a horrible news event. It has been every time it comes up for him."
Her second point is that there's an ongoing "massive" audit that the IRS has been working with that dates back to 2008 and 2009.
"If it goes against him, it could cost him up to in excess of $100 million," Craig explained. "It's huge. What I'm looking for today that I think is going to move the ball forward is information on that audit. What we do know from his taxes -- The New York Times obtained his taxes through 2018. We saw that he has very big tax returns. He doesn't make very much money. Most of his businesses, in fact, lose money."
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The information that has been revealed effectively proves that Trump was not the billionaire that he claimed he was for the past decades. The other myth it dispelled was that Trump is a successful businessman because it turns out his companies operated at a loss.
"We're not going to see anything that breaks that narrative today," said Craig. "We're going to see a lot of red ink. I think we will learn more about how he did during the COVID-19 crisis. A lot of his businesses are dependent on hospitality. We may get insight into that. They probably did horribly during the pandemic. Those are the things I'm looking for into today and tomorrow if they do release the returns."
She went on to predict that the business will be seen as "under pressure" and that some of his other business decisions like the trading cards, are "horrible for his brand."
"This is a guy who is all about his brand. Maybe it's just too late for any sort of brand discussion about Donald Trump," Craig wondered out loud. "The fact that he is doing stuff like that indicates to me that he needs money."
The House Ways and Means Committee will vote Tuesday on whether or not to release Trump's taxes publicly.
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