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turbinetree

(24,701 posts)
Thu Sep 5, 2019, 03:55 PM Sep 2019

Umm ... 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 didn’t either! Or at least I didn’t until I was talking to TPM’s 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 President’s and Vice President’s taxes.

Why isn’t this a bigger deal?

First, a few points. It’s 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 didn’t become public until August 20th when it was included in a legal filing tied to the on-going tax returns litigation.

It’s fair to say that if there hasn’t 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 Neal’s committee is using in its demand for the President’s 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 there’s nothing to worry about on that front (the concerns are “unfounded”), so you don’t 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 there’s funny business going on right now.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/umm-theres-a-whistleblower-about-the-presidents-tax-returns

28 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Umm ... There's A Whistleblower About the President's Tax Returns (Original Post) turbinetree Sep 2019 OP
I do not trust Mnuchin as far as I can see him. riversedge Sep 2019 #1
He's too evil even for a Bond villain. kairos12 Sep 2019 #4
So is his wife. LastLiberal in PalmSprings Sep 2019 #8
Apparently their servants are carring the packages. SergeStorms Sep 2019 #13
Probably expects that with a mention from her she'll be showered with more "free stuff". Ligyron Sep 2019 #18
....... Hotler Sep 2019 #19
K&R...👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 spanone Sep 2019 #2
good thing a Democratic prez isnt doing this, GOP would hunt her or him down and end them Eliot Rosewater Sep 2019 #3
Remember the projection during tRump's rallies? If I did 1/10 of what Hillary did...? n/t joost5 Sep 2019 #5
Yes. I do. :grr: calimary Sep 2019 #27
Maybe it will get some coverage once Congress returns from recess. Vinca Sep 2019 #6
Rachel Mentioned This on Her Show Awhile Back dlk Sep 2019 #7
Why does nobody know about this? Bev54 Sep 2019 #9
knr triron Sep 2019 #10
K and R...thank you for posting this...no text. Stuart G Sep 2019 #11
Your most certainly and very much welcome........................ turbinetree Sep 2019 #17
Kickin this blm Sep 2019 #12
Add it to the fucking list. SergeStorms Sep 2019 #14
We're gonna need a bigger boat... jmbar2 Sep 2019 #23
No kidding! SergeStorms Sep 2019 #25
Somebody's going leak it sooner or later FakeNoose Sep 2019 #15
Are the returns the ones he shows to the banks, or the ones he sends to the states he does business LiberalArkie Sep 2019 #16
Kick tRump off the ballot Blue Owl Sep 2019 #20
Article on 8/20 about discrepancies from his UK financial disclosures MyMission Sep 2019 #21
It would be really nice to read the evidence BUT it is behind a paywall. usaf-vet Sep 2019 #22
Hmmm.... I saw the message to joi, but was able to collapse the message and keep reading. nt Lisa0825 Sep 2019 #24
I found this on Google True Blue American Sep 2019 #26
Could this be the source Lawrence O'Donnell was talking about? lunatica Sep 2019 #28
8. So is his wife.
Thu Sep 5, 2019, 05:33 PM
Sep 2019


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

(19,201 posts)
13. Apparently their servants are carring the packages.
Thu Sep 5, 2019, 06:02 PM
Sep 2019

No one could expect the gold-digger and her sugar daddy to carry their own packages. I hate these people.

Ligyron

(7,632 posts)
18. Probably expects that with a mention from her she'll be showered with more "free stuff".
Thu Sep 5, 2019, 07:57 PM
Sep 2019

I say: "enlevez leur têtes"!

dlk

(11,566 posts)
7. Rachel Mentioned This on Her Show Awhile Back
Thu Sep 5, 2019, 05:30 PM
Sep 2019

Trump has pulled out all the stops to keep his financial information secret. This is his Achilles heel.

Bev54

(10,052 posts)
9. Why does nobody know about this?
Thu Sep 5, 2019, 05:33 PM
Sep 2019

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.

SergeStorms

(19,201 posts)
14. Add it to the fucking list.
Thu Sep 5, 2019, 06:07 PM
Sep 2019

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.

FakeNoose

(32,639 posts)
15. Somebody's going leak it sooner or later
Thu Sep 5, 2019, 06:14 PM
Sep 2019

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

(15,715 posts)
16. Are the returns the ones he shows to the banks, or the ones he sends to the states he does business
Thu Sep 5, 2019, 06:18 PM
Sep 2019

in, or the ones he sends to Moscow? I don't believe any of them will have the real data.

MyMission

(1,850 posts)
21. Article on 8/20 about discrepancies from his UK financial disclosures
Fri Sep 6, 2019, 02:54 AM
Sep 2019

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

(6,186 posts)
22. It would be really nice to read the evidence BUT it is behind a paywall.
Fri Sep 6, 2019, 01:04 PM
Sep 2019

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!!

lunatica

(53,410 posts)
28. Could this be the source Lawrence O'Donnell was talking about?
Mon Sep 9, 2019, 12:57 PM
Sep 2019

The one where he apologized because he didn’t have the extra corroboration for?

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