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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump Casinos’ Tax Debt Was $30 Million. Then Christie Took Office.
By the time Chris Christie became governor of New Jersey, the states auditors and lawyers had been battling for several years to collect long-overdue taxes owed by the casinos founded by his friend Donald J. Trump.
The total, with interest, had grown to almost $30 million. The state had doggedly pursued the matter through two of the casinos bankruptcy cases and even accused the company led by Mr. Trump of filing false reports with state casino regulators about the amount of taxes it had paid.
But the year after Governor Christie, a Republican, took office, the tone of the litigation shifted. The state entertained settlement offers. And in December 2011, after six years in court, the state agreed to accept just $5 million, roughly 17 cents on the dollar of what auditors said the casinos owed.
Tax authorities sometimes settle for lesser amounts to avoid the costs and risks of further litigation, legal experts said, but the steep discount granted to the Trump casinos and the relationship between the two men raise inevitable questions about special treatment.
You cant tell whether theres something problematic, but its pretty striking that this one was written down so much, said David Skeel, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School who specializes in bankruptcy law and reviewed the case at the request of The New York Times.
The refusal by Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, to release his personal income tax returns has become a growing issue in the campaign. He has also boasted of his success in lowering his tax burden as a businessman, declaring last year in an interview on Fox News that only a stupid person, a really stupid person, is paying a lot of taxes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/us/politics/trump-chris-christie-casinos.html?emc=edit_th_20160817&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=45299538&_r=0
bagelsforbreakfast
(1,427 posts)Who would have thought? I hope Trump comforted him with pizza. (credit to Triumph)
cali
(114,904 posts)liberal N proud
(60,335 posts)kennetha
(3,666 posts)I bet his federal returns are equally shady. Somebody -- the New York Times, are you listening -- ought to do a similar number on his dealings with the feds.
The New York Times, by the way, has been doing GREAT work on Trump. No wonder he hates them.
liberal N proud
(60,335 posts)Where ever Trump has done business, you can guess that there is some form of corruption.
jaxind
(1,074 posts)Of course, this is the kind of thing that Trump's base would just love....getting out of paying your fair share of taxes...yay!! Idiots!
thucythucy
(8,067 posts)and the demand to see all the e-mails and notes related to this case?
Oh, right. Never.
yardwork
(61,630 posts)annabanana
(52,791 posts)liberal N proud
(60,335 posts)deminks
(11,014 posts)Nitram
(22,803 posts)liberal N proud
(60,335 posts)Christie thought the Trump was going to reward him.
Javaman
(62,530 posts)VP for trump.
but in the end what donald wants donald gets, damn everyone else.
and christie can't say a word otherwise he would be implicated.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)The people he has refused to pay should file the necessary paperwork showing he has not paid them and then have his taxes audited if he fails to show the non payments to his venders.
kennetha
(3,666 posts)This story deserves more play. Have the Clinton people commented on it yet? Has it spread throughout the media?
This story makes it pretty clear what lengths the Donald will go to to avoid paying his taxes.