Trump communications director blames Obama for Trump's failure to pay federal income taxes

CNN anchor Jim Sciutto and Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh battled for nearly 10 minutes in an explosive collision ahead of the debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.

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But the tension escalated even further after Murtaugh made a snide reference to the fact that Sciutto previously worked in the State Department during President Barack Obama’s administration.

“That refund that you’re referring to was made possible under a law signed by your former boss, Barack Obama, that allows people to claim losses in previous years and carry them forward,” Murtaugh said.

“Don’t go personal here, Tim Murtaugh,” Sciutto shot back. “Don’t go personal here. I worked as chief of staff for the U.S. ambassador to China.”

“It’s not personal, it’s a fact,” Murtaugh said. “President Obama signed that law.”

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/dont-go-personal-here-cnn-segment-goes-way-off-the-rails-as-jim-sciutto-clashes-with-trump-campaign-spox-on-presidents-taxes/

Trump literally can't afford to lose the election

By Peter Weber

It isn't a new idea that President Trump is better at playing a billionaire on TV than earning enough money to be one in real life. But The New York Times got the goods to prove it — 18 years worth of tax documents, from 2000 to 2018 — and released the first bombshell Sunday night (while promising to "publish additional articles about our findings" in coming weeks). It's a doozy.

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But "the picture that perhaps emerges most starkly from the mountain of figures and tax schedules prepared by Mr. Trump's accountants is of a businessman-president in a tightening financial vise," deep in debt with the bill coming due, the Times reports. That raises the troubling question of whether Trump can literally afford to lose power on Nov. 3 — and what he might do to prevent an electoral defeat and financial ruin.

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Along with more than $300 million in loans coming due in the next four years for which he is personally responsible, Trump might have to pay back the federal government more than $100 million, including interest and penalties, if the Internal Revenue Service determines he improperly obtained the $72.9 million tax rebate. Trump has valuable assets he might be able to sell (but really doesn't want to) — but he also currently serves as the top executive of the same federal government that includes the IRS and America's federal prosecutors.

If you think Trump wouldn't lean heavily on Attorney General William Barr or Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to protect his personal finances in a second term, or that Barr or Mnuchin are above tipping the scales even a bit, Trump might have a bridge to sell you. Or a condo. Mnuchin's refusal to hand Trump's tax returns over to congressional investigators, and the Justice Department's half-successful defense of that decision, are the reason we are learning what's in Trump's tax filings from The New York Times.

More:

https://theweek.com/articles/940021/trump-literally-cant-afford-lose-election

WAPO: Trump attempted to exploit his elderly father in order to save himself from financial ruin

Donald Trump, facing financial ruin, sought control of his elderly father’s estate. The family fight was epic.

“It was basically taking the whole estate and giving it to Donald,” Trump’s sister said in secretly recorded audio

By Michael Kranish
Sept. 27, 2020

Donald Trump was facing financial disaster in 1990 when he came up with an audacious plan to exert control of his father’s estate.

His creditors threatened to force him into personal bankruptcy, and his first wife, Ivana, wanted “a billion dollars” in a divorce settlement, Donald Trump said in a deposition. So he sent an accountant and a lawyer to see his father, Fred Trump Sr., who was told he needed to immediately sign a document changing the will according to his son’s wishes, according to depositions from family members.

It was a fragile moment for the senior Trump, who was 85 years old and had built a real estate empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He would soon be diagnosed with cognitive problems, such as being unable to recall things he was told 30 minutes earlier or remember his birth date, according to his medical records, which were included in a related court case.

Now, those records and other sources of information about the episode obtained by The Washington Post reveal the extent of Fred Trump Sr.’s cognitive impairment and how Donald’s effort to change his father’s will tore apart the Trump family, which continues to reverberate today.

More:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/donald-trump-father-will/

We need to delegitimize the Supreme Court and the best way to do that will be to prosecute Trump

Expose him as a criminal after he leaves office. Investigate and prosecute every single instance of lawlessness.

Every. Single. One.

Exposing the lawlessness will prove to the majority of Americans that he was never a legitimate president and therefore his Supreme Court appointments will be illegitimate as well.

Biden should then either add more justices to the illegitimate court or ignore the rulings of the illegitimate court.

Focus on the prize, people.

November 3rd is what it's all about and even Trump knows it.

Don't get distracted by his most recent illegitimate Supreme Court pick.

Eyes on the prize.

Trump promises seniors $200 prescription drug gift certificates, but questions abound

I'm sure he would like the gift certificates to have his name on them....

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https://www.statnews.com/2020/09/24/seniors-200-gift-certificates-prescription-drug/

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday pledged to send $200 prescription drug coupons to 33 million Medicare beneficiaries “in the coming weeks,” a nakedly political ploy to curry favor with seniors who view drug prices as a priority.

Trump’s promise comes less than six weeks before Election Day, and represents the latest step in his administration’s (and his campaign’s) efforts to amass health care talking points, even if their actions do little to save Americans money.

The administration is getting its authority to ship the coupons from a Medicare demonstration program, a White House spokesman told STAT in a statement. The nearly $7 billion required to send the coupons, he said, would come from savings from Trump’s “most favored nations” drug pricing proposal. That regulation has also not yet been implemented — meaning the Trump administration is effectively pledging to spend $6.6 billion in savings that do not currently exist. The cards, he said, would be “actual discount cards for prescription drug copays.”

Lindsey Graham suggests 2020 election will be decided by the Supreme Court and not voters.

Go fuck yourself, Lindsey....

FBI has not seen evidence of widespread voter fraud, Director Wray tells senators

Source: CNBC

FBI Director Christopher Wray said Thursday that the bureau has not seen evidence of widespread voting fraud, an assertion that undercuts President Donald Trump’s recent warnings about the integrity of the election.

“We have not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it’s by mail or otherwise,” Wray told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Wray’s remarks come a day after Trump again claimed, without evidence, that mail-in voting is susceptible to massive fraud, perhaps by foreign adversaries. The president refused Wednesday to commit to a peaceful transition of power if Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins the November election, citing concerns about “the ballots.”

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/24/fbi-has-not-seen-evidence-of-widespread-voter-fraud-director-wray-tells-senators.html

Trump on 2020 Election: "Get rid of the ballots"

Trump won’t commit to peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election
WED, SEP 23 2020
Kevin Breuninger

President Donald Trump refused Wednesday to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the 2020 election to Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

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The president had been asked by a reporter if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power, “win, lose or draw.”

When the reporter noted that “people are rioting,” Trump replied: “Get rid of the ballots, and you’ll have a very – you’ll have a very peaceful – there won’t be a transfer, frankly, there’ll be a continuation.”

“The ballots are out of control,” Trump said, adding, “The Democrats know it better than anybody else.”

More:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/23/trump-wont-commit-to-peaceful-transfer-of-power-if-he-loses-the-election.html

Whopping 59 Percent of Americans Would 'Distrust' Covid Vaccine Released Before Election

Whopping 59 Percent of Americans Would ‘Distrust’ Covid Vaccine Released Before Election — Including HALF of Republicans

By Tommy Christopher
Sep 17th, 2020, 12:04 pm

An overwhelming and bipartisan majority of Americans say they would “distrust” any coronavirus vaccine that was released before Election Day in November.

According to an Economist/YouGov poll released Thursday, concerns about the safety and efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine released in time for the election abound.

Respondents to the poll were asked “If the government announced there was a COVID-19 vaccine right before the election, how much would you trust that the vaccine would be safe and effective?”

Among all respondents, 59 percent said they would either “distrust somewhat” or “distrust completely” the safety and efficacy of such a vaccine — with 36 percent saying they would completely distrust it.

And while there is partisan disagreement on a number of coronavirus-related issues, 50 percent of Republicans agree with the majority that a pre-Election Day vaccine would not be trustworthy.

More:

https://www.mediaite.com/news/whopping-59-percent-of-americans-would-distrust-covid-vaccine-released-before-election-including-half-of-republicans/

The Trump campaign is pretending they're bill collectors to shake down their supporters for cash