One of the reason I’ve wanted to get Il Trumpe’s taxes is that it has been blindingly obvious they will reveal some very bad things. I’m not referring to the very strong possibility that he’s not worth anywhere near what he claims to be. It’s that he has very likely broken the law, and he won’t be able to finagle his way out this. David Cay Johnston, who has been reporting on Trump’s illegalities for a couple of decades, has the details (boldface mine):
…Donald Trump is a tax cheat. He had two civil trials for income tax fraud, one by the State of New York and the other by the City of New York. In both cases he lost. In one of those trials, his own long-time tax attorney and accountant, Jack Mitnick, testified against him. Mitnick was shown the filed tax return, which was a photocopy, and testified, “That’s my signature on the return, but neither I nor my firm prepared that tax return.” That’s as good a badge of fraud as you’re ever going to find. It indicates that Donald Trump took the tax return that was prepared, changed it, and then with a photocopy machine put the signature of Jack Mitnick on it. Donald Trump is also a confessed sales tax cheat. Mayor Ed Koch of New York said he should have served 15 days in jail for his crime. Trump has a long history of hiding records from auditors, cheating governments, using two sets of numbers. So his tax returns are highly likely to show tax cheating.
…the returns may well establish how much money he has been getting from Russians, Saudis, people from the Emirates, and elsewhere. They may show whether he has been engaged in money laundering for these people through real estate transactions and other actions that make no business sense, but, when closely examined, show exactly what we see when there’s money laundering. I think the record is pretty clear that he has been doing that.
…Trump has over 500 business entities, and the tax return is the beginning point for an audit. You then would examine the books and records that are behind it. Now, Trump has a long history of destroying or claiming he destroyed business records to thwart auditors. This happened particularly with the City of New York when he tried to cheat the city out of about $2.9 million. But there may actually be transactions reported right in the tax return that would tell you where money came from–because it may list entities to which he is obligated, or is in partnership with, or received money from, or shared profits with. The request by Chairman Neal of the House Ways and Means Committee was very targeted. It cited six specific Trump businesses—out of over 500 businesses. That suggests to me that they know what they were looking for.
As some asshole with a blog put it, it might be like getting Capone for tax fraud, but it will do.
Yes, absolutely, and a good thing too, that DT’s tax returns are very likely to show, variously: tax fraud, cheating, discrepancies between claimed worth, and involvement with Russians and reality; but he may also be facing something far more dangerous than embarrassment, impeachment, and legal sanctions.
I’ll give you a dollar to a dime that Trump has cheated business associates and that they have so far been unaware the fact and the amount he has screwed them out of. While the more above-board American and European businessmen are likely to forgive or write off such theft there are Europeans, and particularly Russians, who are not so forgiving. They have a very nasty habit of seeking vengeance and punishing people who screw them. They are not above murdering people. Lacking other options, or just because they like to see people squirm, they sometimes go after family and friends.
Trump is a moral and physical coward. He fears embarrassment. But the thought of paying a physical price, in blood and guts and death, being physically vulnerable, scares him shitless.