Tax Returns Coming Tonight?

[cinyc]

Well, back to playing Overwatch.

No, this 2005 return is helpful. It showed us that most of his income ($150 million) came from the sale of two properties in Manhattan and San Fran, according to Patrick LaForge, on Twitter - to Hong Kong investors. Which means only one thing, the later returns will show a much more heavy reliance on foreign investors especially since he started leasing Trump Tower deals around the world post-2005.

And?  Selling or leasing high-value properties to Hong Kong investors is neither unusual nor illegal.  Plus, you really don't need tax returns to "prove" "reliance on foreign investors", whatever that means - which again, even if true, wouldn't be unusual or illegal.  Property sales, in particular, are usually a matter of public record.  Deeds get publicly recorded.  Anyone who knows how can look them up.

This will backfire on Maddow and the Democrats.  The Trump spin will be that someone is likely illegally leaking Donald Trump's tax returns without his consent.  Oh - and he made millions and paid his taxes, so so what?

[cinyc]

Probably will hurt the Democrats, in the short run, as Trumpy's base gets wound up. I think there's definitely some sort of smoking gun but Trump's base (you among them, it appears) won't accept that until there's concrete proof and will continue to idolize the God-Emperor.   

In the long run, Trumpy's got a lot of things to hide.

Some smoking gun where?  Tax returns don't show as much as you or the grandstanding Democrats like Chuck Schumer think they do - particularly when candidates who release returns generally don't release all the schedules and attachments, but just the first few pages.  And the fact that Trump did everything he could to minimize his tax bill is already known.  It's not going to change anyone's mind at this point.

Again, you don't need tax returns to learn about Trump's real estate dealings.  Some of it is a matter of public record.  Some of it has been reported on by the media in the past.  Heck, Trump probably details some of it in his books.  It might not be as easy to figure out than if he just released his complete returns, but with some work, it can be learned without them.

[cinyc]

what would be your proposal then, cinyc, why trump goes out of his way to create a castle of complex lies to prevent his tax records from going public, if they are - in fact - without new knowledge?

Some are under audit, which means he and the IRS disagree on a tax position he took.  Complex tax issues usually aren't litigated in the court of public opinion.  And Trump has said he doesn't want to release his returns until the audit is done, if at all.  How is that a "castle of complex lies"? 

"Castles of complex lies" aren't necessary to keep tax records from going public.  It is solely up to the taxpayer to release them.  The IRS releasing them to most people is a crime.

[cinyc]

what would be your proposal then, cinyc, why trump goes out of his way to create a castle of complex lies to prevent his tax records from going public, if they are - in fact - without new knowledge?

Some are under audit, which means he and the IRS disagree on a tax position he took.  Complex tax issues usually aren't litigated in the court of public opinion.  And Trump has said he doesn't want to release his returns until the audit is done, if at all.  How is that a "castle of complex lies"?  

"Castles of complex lies" aren't necessary to keep tax records from going public.  It is solely up to the taxpayer to release them.  The IRS releasing them to most people is a crime.

This lie has been debunked so many times...either way you can release tax returns under audit, Nixon did it

I doubt Trump is lying that some of his tax returns are under audit.  And just because you can release tax returns under audit doesn't mean that you must.

[cinyc]

So then why did he say he would release his tax returns and Romney was "a choke artist" who "lost because he failed to release his tax returns"

I don't recall him saying that about Romney.  In fact, I recall him saying just the opposite - that Romney was a chump for releasing his returns - which Romney actually did.