What Rachel did was nothing short of brilliant!

[Firebrand Gary]

I've rewatched the show, in its entirety and IMHO she knew exactly what she was doing. If you strip away the desire to see the taxes, she structured the show to rearticulate the Russian connections. This, my friends, is good journalism.

While rightfully, many people just want to see #45 brought down this very moment, what Rachel did gave her, even more, credibility in the long run, in a story that is going to be unfolding for years. Rachel just set herself apart from all the commentators with TV shows who'd rather throw out data in a manner to achieve a result, instead she paved the road for modern journalism.

[caroldansen]

1. Yes. What she did was brilliant and courageous. But I hope it only takes weeks or months instead

of years!!!!!!

[longship]

2. Ahhhh-Yup! R&K nt

[Hoyt]

3. Those tax summaries aren't going to bring him down. His supporters and 70+% of Dems, don't care.

Should keep hitting him on health "plan," tax cuts for wealthy, deportation, racism, lies, etc.

[BlueMTexpat]

5. Where do you get your

figures for a "70+% of Democrats?"

There is no reason why we shouldn't hit Trump in EVERY single way we can. He deserves it.

[Hoyt]

6. Good luck. What do you think the number is that really care?

[BlueMTexpat]

7. Nice evasion. eom

[PunkinPi]

9. Rachel actually mentioned that 74% of Americans want the taxes released. nt

[Fast Walker 52]

11. I would bet 90% of Dems care about his taxes

certainly if they are informed in any way.

[Eyeball_Kid]

53. The numbers are going up. With some, it takes time.

[Demsrule86]

17. Trump release the incomplete probably fake tax return.

[mnhtnbb]

18. If so many people "don't care" why did two websites get crashed last night to get a look

at the tax returns?

Sure, the front two pages aren't going to bring him down, but the back up schedules
just might. I am not in the camp that believes Cheeto or his one of his minions released
them. I think a patriot is stepping up.

[Kindnesscostszero]

30. Then why is Donald Jr simply giddy tweeting this a.m.?

My gut felt last night that she was being fed those for a reason. She is getting close with the Russian stuff, and this is the first salvo to try and take her down a peg. It shifts the media focus for a day or two... helps make Donald look good tax-wise, by cherry picking a year eleven years ago..and just the top two pages at that. Left to guess the rest.

He is playing her..but she is smart enough to know that. Time will tell what her long game theory is. Perhaps to just shake the bushes and hope to get more returns to show up from other sources.

[WhiteTara]

40. Why? He plays tiddly winks.

She plays chess.

[KittyWampus]

26. 74% of Americans want Trump's taxes released.

[Hoyt]

31. I bet close to 100% DUers do. But, most Americans, especially white wingers who voted for him, do

not care. A big portion of Democrats don't care either because they aren't that into politics or they know tax returns aren't going to nail him.

[Hoyt]

43. I think you are talking about an August 2016 poll. A bunch of those 74% obviously voted for him, so

they didn't care enough to not vote for him.

[kstewart33]

28. All of those issues pale in comparison to the impact of a proven R/T relationship.

Nothing else comes close in terms of its impact on Trump's presidency. Why do you think he's working so hard to keep those tax returns secret?

He knows if the relationship is proven, his presidency is toast.

[Hoyt]

33. The tax returns aren't going to show "Russian Bribes" as an income source. Sorry.

They might show some income from banks that also do business with Russia, which is essentially every big bank in the world. But that proves nothing.

If some connection is made, GOPers will simply rationalize it by saying we need to improve our relations with Russia.

I wish I didn't feel that way, but I've been through Fitzmas, supposed miscount of votes, and hundreds of other conspiracy theories. When it's all over with, his tax returns will at best indicate he's rolling in borrowed money, he's a huckster, he got big write-offs from past business loses, etc. But most folks already know that, yet enough voted for him to make him Prez to our detriment.

[kstewart33]

44. A complete set of returns...

will show to whom/what Trump owes money and by how much. Consider that a complete return for Trump runs hundreds of pages.

If so, it will directly prove that Trump's many-times insistence that he has no relationships with Russia, is a lie.

Those connections will link Trump to some awfully ugly Russians, likely oligarchs.

If Trump owes many millions to these guys, it logically follows that they could make some serious financial trouble for Trump.

That logical conclusion establishes a tremendous conflict of interest for Trump. And that will be an issue for president. Bigly.

[Hoyt]

45. Which schedule has detailed listing of who you owe money to? The return might show what foreign

banks he has money in, but what does that prove. Nothing, except to us who are ready to believe anything derogatory about Trump (easy to do). It won't get him impeached, nor convicted of a crime. So, we can just sit here trashing him just like white wingers did Obama. He finished 2 terms.

[kstewart33]

47. It's already been established that some if not all Russian banks are controlled by oligarchs....

and Putin, directly or indirectly.

All that needs to be shown is evidence supporting a considerable conflict of interest. That's all.

Trump does not have to be impeached and convicted by the Senate to be rid of him.

If the Dems have the ammunition and a considerable COI would give them plenty to work with, I'd wager that Trump's approval ratings would plummet and the House and Senate would be in play.

That might well be enough for his resignation. If not, it would certainly give Dems a shot at Congressional control.

[Hoyt]

48. Like people didn't know about his conflicts, biases, racism, etc., when they pulled the lever.

[pnwmom]

41. Most people would care if he was getting money from the Russians to change his platform

and appoint Russian moles to his cabinet.

All of the lead-in to Rachel's talk about the returns was her summary of what we've been learning about his Russian connections -- and why getting his FULL returns are so important to that investigation.

[dchill]

4. K&R.

[warpigs72]

8. Reinforces the fact that he can release his taxes at anytime

and the "audit" lie is bullshit. And that he is hiding from the American People. Not sure why people are angry with Rachel here.

[Pacifist Patriot]

34. I don't get it either.

The hype probably brought in people who didn't know why these documents are so critical, and spelled it out in no uncertain terms.

I learned a few things, including some things about Nixon, I didn't know last night and I've been following what's going on. Trying to anyway. It's an incredibly complex morass of greed and corruption.

[7962]

10. Much as I'd like to see the taxes, theres no requirement for him to do it.

And if we can get congress to pass a law, things may be different. They could say "effective today" and the sitting pres would have to release them. Everyone knows the "under audit" thing is BS anyway

[Fast Walker 52]

12. there is no requirement for a person to be decent and act ethically

but it's expected.

[Pacifist Patriot]

35. And if you don't do what's expected...

people assume you're not doing so because you've got a conflict of interest / something to hide.

[Fast Walker 52]

37. agree!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

14. It will be a requirement if a judge orders the returns released.

With all the legal and ethics cases brewing, I don't see how he can avoid disclosure without being held in contempt of court.

At the very least, he is in violation of the law re: the D.C. Hotel.

[Cosmocat]

13. Eh - imo, she got caught up in the moment

She is a good egg for sure and a darn fine journalist.

But, the taxes are larger than life now and she got caught up in the moment. I watched it and the energy and tone surpassed the information the two pages provided.

Ithe also was odd when Johnson basically said trump gave them to him that it kind of caught her by surprise.

Just would have been better served to say at the outset that while it was the first look at any of his federal returns, it was VERY limited, left a lot unearthed, actually raised even more questions, but highlights why it is important to get the full returns.

Should have been upfront and said that until proven otherwise, it is very possible it was a trump leak to distract from acha and comeys announcement.

[mnhtnbb]

19. Johnston did not say that Trump gave them to him; he said it was a possibility

that Trump could have sent them because they came anonymously. He also said that Trump has been
known to release stuff that he thought would benefit him and not own up to it.

Just because something's possible doesn't mean that's what happened.

There are lots and lots of people who could have access to any or all of Trump's returns.

[Cosmocat]

24. Why do you think he brought it up?

You think he just pulled it out of thin air for no reason.

HE CLEARLY was saying that he believed Trump had it sent to him.

[Justice]

27. No, it was brilliant. And guess what - she said all of those things

[Cosmocat]

38. Not brilliant

at all ...

Sorry, calling it "brilliant" is right wing like counter hyperbole.

She was solid overall, but got caught up in the moment, created more suspense than what she had warranted and by not framing it around what I posted and keeping that at the forefront provided fodder to negatively frame what she did.

[jmg257]

15. Not sure what everyone was expecting. He's been filing taxes for decades,

Been audited for years, been tied to criminals and questionable finances and strange real estate deals for...ever, and is still out there.

Russian money? Chinese money? Oiligarch money? No shit. Billions of dollars pass through his 500 businesses, and somehow hes been getting away with it.

[progressoid]

16. Or she could have condensed it down to 10 or 15 minutes.

[Vinca]

20. I'm afraid I disagree. The whole thing came off as "National Enquirer."

With nothing in those 2 pages to even hint at Russian connections, it seemed a total waste of time. She could prove just as easily Trump owned a Mexican broccoli farm as he had ties to Russia from 2 pages from a 1040 tax form and no schedules. It seemed obvious within minutes of her producing the copy of the form that it was a plant from Trump Tower meant to distract from the upcoming vote on healthcare.

[logosoco]

21. The really good job of being a journalist is not fast and flashy.

But that is what everyone wants!

At the beginning of the show, it was frustrating to have her go over what most of us who are paying attention already know. Then I realized, she got the attention of a lot of new people with the news of the taxes. She laid it out very clearly for them.

If anyone can't see what is going on now, they are choosing to be ignorant.

Go, Rachel! And all the journalist out there today doing their jobs. It is slow and boring at times, but keep it up.

The free press is one of the things in America that will save America!

[Lee-Lee]

22. She should have been honest in her initial announcement

She tweeted he had Trumps income tax "returns", plural.

Then it turned out she had 2 pages out of thousands from one year. Not "returns", not even one single "return". Just 2 pages from one return.

It was a pretty bad case of exaggeration. She's done it before, it was almost a weekly thing during the campaign and it turned me off from her show. I let myself get lured in again even expecting it wasn't what she hyped it to be and got disappointed again.

I guess many here are ok with someone constantly hyping stories to be more than they are and letting you down. I'm not, and this time I'm really done until she returns to real journalism she doesn't have to hype or oversell before the show to get people to watch.

[JTFrog]

36. Just because you feel let down, doesn't mean the rest of us do.

Trust me, she is going to continue providing real journalism whether you watch or not.

People ignored Woodward and Bernstein for a long time when they reported on Watergate. Voters even went on to re-elect the crook, so while vindication eventually came, it didn't come quickly.

Trump has been in office for less than two months. Rachel will be on the right side of history here.

[kentuck]

23. Both Rachel and guest agreed that Donald may have sent the forms himself.

They understood that possibility. Neither was blinded by the "big story". It was a big story but in a different way than most people wanted or imagined.

[sarcasmo]

25. Saw one release them all, needs to be the Democratic Party talking point.

[Gothmog]

29. I stand with Rachel Maddow

[bdamomma]

39. me too.

never can satisfy everyone here on DU. but that is our free speech.

[Firebrand Gary]

42. Kick

[OnDoutside]

46. If the Democrats win back the Senate, can they order the release of Trump's tax returns ?

[we can do it]

49. We saw the same show, apparently.

Too bad some were too impatient to actually watch. They were too busy complaining during most of the show.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

50. K&R

[True Dough]

51. If anything, the tax reveal on Maddow's show helped Trump

at least in the short-term. Remember when the NY Times revealed back in October that they had obtained a few pages from Trump's 1995 tax return? It showed a massive $916 million loss that they calculated could have led to Trump not paying income taxes for the next 18 years. What became clear from the 1080s on Maddow's show is that he did indeed pay $38 million in income taxes in 2005, so he didn't go more than 10 years without paying income tax. Maybe less.

[Lucinda]

52. KNR

[Guilded Lilly]

54. Yup. Drip drip drip is getting louder. I'm with Maddow...and

O'Donnell and Olbermann and Reich and Franken and Sanders and Warren and everyone who is keeping the RESISTANCE alive in every way.

[underthematrix]

55. Yes i rewatch the episode several times because it was so masterful

Tonight Rachel raised the questions that Trump tax summary begs to have answered.

[Azathoth]

56. The Right is laughing at her

I'm glad her fan club think she has brilliantly played 12-dimensional journalistic chess, but the folks on the other side are convinced she crashed and burned. And you can tell they legitimately think they've scored big because they're mentioning her and MSNBC by name. When they're scared of something, it's radio silence and stories about New Black Panthers.

Her attempt tonight to dig herself out of the hole by speculating on why the tax return was so unremarkable sounded more than a little desperate and defensive (even though much of her speculation is probably correct).