The Secret of Why Trump Will Not Release His Taxes. CNN:

[Stuart G]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/07/politics/donald-trump-tax-returns-steve-mnuchin-richard-neal/index.html

This article discusses 4 reasons why Trump will not release his taxes. Easy to read and easy to understand.
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Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Updated 2:09 PM ET, Tue May 7, 2019

CNN) — On Monday night, as expected, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin informed House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Massachusetts, that he would not be handing over President Donald Trump's tax returns.

That move will occasion a response from Neal -- in the form of a subpoena, a contempt vote or a lawsuit. No matter what Neal chooses, this fight is headed into the legal arena sooner rather than later.

And it's likely that it winds up, at some point, in front of the Supreme Court.

Which is, if you stop and think about it, remarkable. We are now using the Supreme Court to litigate something that, prior to Trump, was seen as de rigeur for people running for president. Sure, some candidates released more years of their tax returns. And some released less. Some did so with little prompting while others -- Bernie Sanders in 2016 -- had to be dragged kicking and screaming to transparency.

But, the point remains: Donald Trump was (and is) the only major party presidential nominee since Watergate to never release any past tax returns. He is also the only president to refuse to release even a year of past returns.

[Chin music]

1. Because he lies on every one?

Im sure of it. I'd bet a kidney on it.

[Stuart G]

4. Of course you are correct. He lies and cheats..Also,

I think he pays almost nothing in taxes. And that would truly embarrass him. But he doesn't care about anyone but himself and he will try to cover himself and look good. If Trump really did pay NO TAXES at all, some of his followers would applaud and salute their "leader." Trump would be the leader who conned the federal government out of taxes his followers would think.

[Chin music]

6. Who pays ZERO for all the greatness of this country, and is proud of it?

Republicans, in a word. (Or they try to.) It's the cost of being free.

[Ohiogal]

13. Remember in the last election debates...

He said “ not paying taxes makes you smart.” He bragged about it!

[Corgigal]

2. He's broke.

He's in the red and anyone else in the world, who turned 18 and was given over 300 million dollars can't imagine it.

[struggle4progress]

3. Me and the devil blues

[Stuart G]

5. Thank You for posting that great video...

[UTUSN]

7. The amazing theme is always: We already know everything. *SPOILER ALERT* (all 4 reasons here: )

SHITLER's m.o. is doing (almost) everything in plain sight. When we finally find out, it's what we've known all along, big let down.


*********UNQUOTE*******

1) Trump's not as rich as he says: There's very little question that Trump overstates his personal wealth -- and has done so for as long as he has had personal wealth. He's said he's worth $10 billion; Forbes said in 2018 that number is closer to $3 billion. For Trump to be exposed as one-third as rich as he had said he is would be embarrassing, sure. But remember, too, that Trump equates wealth directly with success and importance. So being exposed as less rich would be a blow to his success narrative as well.

2) He has Russia ties: While the Mueller report made clear that neither Trump nor anyone in his campaign orbit colluded with the Russians to help Trump win the 2016 election (sic), it would still be a very big story if Trump's tax returns showed he had extensive financial dealings and ties to Russia. We know, from Michael Cohen, that Trump and his family were deeply involved in the potential construction of Trump Tower Moscow and that Cohen lied about that involvement (and how long it stretched) to protect Trump. We also know that Donald Trump Jr. said this at a 2008 real estate conference: "In terms of high-end product influx into the US, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. Say, in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo, and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia."

3) He didn't pay many (or any) taxes: We know -- because Trump admitted as much -- that he used a more than $900 million net operating loss for his business in 1995 to avoid paying personal income taxes for a number of subsequent years. How? This, from The New York Times, explains it:
"Known as net operating loss, it allows an array of deductions, business expenses, real estate depreciation, losses from the sale of business assets and even operating losses to flow from the balance sheets of those partnerships, limited liability companies and S corporations onto the personal tax returns of people like Mr. Trump. In turn, those losses can be used to cancel out an equivalent amount of taxable income."
As the Times noted, Trump's $916 million loss in 1995 could have allowed him to pay $0 in personal income taxes for the next 18 years.

4) He donates no (or very little) money to charity: We know, thanks to the amazing reporting of the Washington Post's David Fahrenthold, that Trump long used his charitable organization to feather his own nest and collect political chits rather than for any philanthropic purposes. (Trump shut down the charity in 2018.) It's not at all clear how generous (if at all) Trump has been to other charities over the past few decades. While there is no requirement for wealthy individuals to make large charitable donations, many do. And Trump has often boasted about the depth and breadth of his charitable giving.

************UNQUOTE*******

[gabeana]

8. I read it

and I think Chris Cillizza is an idiot after reading the article.

People in the media like Cillizza who come off as experts soft petals the Mueller Report, my complaint is not with topic of the article, even though no new ground was being broken, the following is what pisses me off

From Cillizza link

While the Mueller report made clear that neither Trump nor anyone in his campaign orbit colluded with the Russians to help Trump win the 2016 election, it would still be a very big story if...

I expect better from a journalist when this information is readily available maybe he is not a journalist?
from the A.P.

Allegations of “collusion” were not “proven false” in the Mueller investigation, nor was the issue of “collusion” addressed in the report.

The Mueller report said the investigation did not find a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, saying it had not collected sufficient evidence “to establish” or sustain criminal charges.

The report noted that some Trump campaign officials had declined to testify under the 5th Amendment or had provided false or incomplete testimony, making it difficult to get a complete picture of what happened during the 2016 campaign. The special counsel wrote that he “cannot rule out the possibility” that unavailable information could have cast a different light on the investigation’s findings.

The report also makes clear the investigation did not assess whether “collusion” occurred because it is not a legal term. The investigation found multiple contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia, and the report said it established that “the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.”

https://www.apnews.com/f9c0ab20229140f18ea34e1f15a9f597



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[Stuart G]

9. Thank You for your analysis of this article. Your last 4 paragrahps are terrific.

[tinrobot]

10. Here, I'll you a click

Here's CNN's reasons:

1) Trump's not as rich as he says
2) He has Russia ties
3) He didn't pay many (or any) taxes
4) He donates no (or very little) money to charity

Apparently, they forgot:

5) He cheats on his taxes.

[Stuart G]

11. You are correct, but 6 extra words (mine): Trump cheats on everything and everyone.

[fescuerescue]

12. Heres the reason he hasn't published his returns

There is no upside.

He knows that the world will go over them with a fine tooth comb. We will find things the IRS never thought of or noticed. Much of it real, some of it innuendo. He knows that anything positive found will be ignored and of course everything negative will be trumpeted.

The sad thing is he won the election without releasing those returns. Now that he has won, there is no compelling reason to do anything more.

Sadly enough people didn't care about the returns the first time. Those same people don't care this time either.

[elias7]

14. Because all 10 years are still under audit?

This has always bothered me, him saying he is under audit. Release the returns of the past 10 years that are not under audit. Why does no one press him on this?