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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUmm ... There's A Whistleblower About the President's Tax Returns
By Josh Marshall | September 5, 2019 12:49 pm
Did you know that a whistleblower has come forward with evidence that Trump administration officials are interfering with the mandatory audits federal law requires for all Presidents and Vice Presidents? I didnt either! Or at least I didnt until I was talking to TPMs Josh Kovensky and he mentioned it to me in passing. And yes, this is really true! (Josh wrote the story up here back on August 27th. Definitely read his analysis for a deeper look at the details.) On July 29th a federal employee came forward to the House Ways and Means Committee with credible allegations of possible misconduct tied to the mandatory audits of the Presidents and Vice Presidents taxes.
Why isnt this a bigger deal?
First, a few points. Its not that no one has talked about this. There were a few small write-ups of this fact in D.C. publications after Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) raised the issue with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Neal wrote to Mnuchin about the whistleblower in a letter dated August 8th. But it didnt become public until August 20th when it was included in a legal filing tied to the on-going tax returns litigation.
Its fair to say that if there hasnt been enough attention to this Neal is as much at fault as reporters. That August 8th letter only comes at the matter in a roundabout way. One of the arguments Neals committee is using in its demand for the Presidents tax returns is that they need to see whether the law that mandates Presidential audits is being correctly administered. The IRS/Treasury response has been that theres nothing to worry about on that front (the concerns are unfounded), so you dont need the tax returns. In the August 8th letter, Neal says, well we do think we have reason to worry and in fact now we have this whistleblower who says theres funny business going on right now.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/umm-theres-a-whistleblower-about-the-presidents-tax-returns
riversedge
(69,719 posts)kairos12
(12,817 posts)LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,538 posts)After using a government jet to go on a designer label shopping trip, the actress posted a "let them eat cake" Instagram photo with hashtags for all the items she bought.
SergeStorms
(18,890 posts)No one could expect the gold-digger and her sugar daddy to carry their own packages. I hate these people.
Ligyron
(7,592 posts)I say: "enlevez leur têtes"!
spanone
(135,633 posts)Eliot Rosewater
(31,097 posts)joost5
(421 posts)calimary
(80,693 posts)Yes. I do.
She said.
With blood starting to boil rather furiously again...
Vinca
(50,170 posts)dlk
(11,433 posts)Trump has pulled out all the stops to keep his financial information secret. This is his Achilles heel.
Bev54
(9,958 posts)I have known about this for quite some time so it baffles me that someone in the position of Josh Marshall does not know this, he needs to get out more or read other sites.
triron
(21,915 posts)Stuart G
(38,359 posts)turbinetree
(24,632 posts)blm
(112,920 posts)SergeStorms
(18,890 posts)They have what........ 60 some odd potential investigations into the criminal Trump administration? They'd have to task a dozen federal judges for the remainder of Trump's only term to catch up with these criminals. And that's if they committed no further crimes while in office, and the chances of that are extremely slim. He can't get out of bed without committing a crime.
jmbar2
(4,832 posts)SergeStorms
(18,890 posts)Let's hope Trump suffers the same fitting end as Jaws.
FakeNoose
(32,345 posts)We got a few hints from the DeutscheBank last month, remember? Enough people have seen the documents by now that a leak will happen sooner or later.
Patience, grasshopper!
LiberalArkie
(15,686 posts)in, or the ones he sends to Moscow? I don't believe any of them will have the real data.
Blue Owl
(49,913 posts)MyMission
(1,845 posts)Thanks for posting this.
I read an article about 2 weeks ago, originally in Huff post, about frump reporting conflicting value of Scottish golf resorts. Not new, but may be what helps to get (rid of) him, along with whistleblowers.
Here's the start of the article. Can't figure out how to insert link but you can search title to see full piece.
Trump Inflating Scottish Golf Resorts' Value By $165 Million, Per UK Filings
The president told British authorities the properties are a combined $65 million in the red. His U.S. disclosures say they're worth at least $100 million.
By S.V. Dates
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump has filed financial disclosure statements that appear to misstate the value and profitability of his Scotland golf courses by $165 million, possibly violating federal laws that are punishable by jail time.
Trump claimed in his 2018 U.S. filing that his Turnberry and Aberdeen resorts were each worth more than $50 million. For that same time period, he filed balance sheets with the United Kingdom government showing that their combined debt exceeded their assets by 47.9 million British pounds ― the equivalent of $64.8 million at the exchange rate on Dec. 31, 2017, the date of the last U.K. filing available.
His 2018 public financial disclosure filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics also claims those two resorts earned him income of $23.8 million. His filings with the U.K. Companies House office in Edinburgh for that period showed the resorts had actually lost 4.6 million pounds ― equal to $6.3 million.
His U.S. disclosure statement also fails to mention $199.5 million in loans Trump has made to those resorts: $54.9 million from him personally to Trump International, Scotland in Aberdeenshire; $144.6 million from his trust to Trump Turnberry in Ayrshire......
As you read the rest, you see that after it was published, rumps liars explained why the numbers didn't need to match. I left a message for Nancy Pelosi, citing the article, asking her to have this information investigated, or used as ammo, if they were not already doing so.
Clearly there are investigations going on, on many fronts. We all know he's a con man. Looks like they are getting closer to exposing and removing him. Waiting impatiently for the day!
usaf-vet
(6,094 posts)Apparently it's not that important for every American to have access to the whistleblower's information.
So one of the answers to the question
"Why isn't this a bigger deal?" ...... Is, in part, because the evidence in this article is behind a paywall. FRUSTRATING!!
Lisa0825
(14,487 posts)True Blue American
(17,972 posts)Link because I can not expand on IPAD.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/umm-theres-a-whistleblower-about-the-presidents-tax-returns
Another
https://act.credoaction.com/sign/neal_trump_taxes
lunatica
(53,410 posts)The one where he apologized because he didnt have the extra corroboration for?