Donald Trump remains the only person to run as a presidential candidate in modern times without releasing his tax returns to the public. At the beginning of his term, he insisted that no one really cared about that since he won, anyway.
Many Americans do care, and the issue has become an even larger point of curiosity since Trump’s business ties to Russia may play quite a part in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of the alleged collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russian government operatives.
Since it's #TaxDay2018
Dear @realDonaldTrump
Mueller's got your tax return
My oh my how that must burn.
You've laundered so much Russian money
Your only fate is prison, honey.— ??????? ????? ???? (@dumptrump33) April 17, 2018
While Mueller may or may not already have access to Trump’s tax returns after his subpoena of the Trump Organization’s documents and the raid on Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen’s office and hotel room, he will not yet have access to Trump’s 2017 taxes since the president filed for an extension to file.
Happy tax deadline day! Here’s a reminder that President Trump has not only refused to reveal his tax returns like he repeatedly promised, but he's bragged about how little money he's paid to the IRS. pic.twitter.com/k1UXpfSUVW
— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) April 17, 2018
According to NBC News:
‘President Donald Trump has filed an extension for his taxes for the second time since taking office, the White House said Tuesday.
‘”The President filed an extension for his 2017 tax return, as do many Americans with complex returns,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told NBC News. “He will file his tax return by the extension deadline of October 15, 2018.”‘
Hillary Clinton: We’ve only seen a couple years of Trump’s tax returns “when he was trying to get a casino license and they showed he didn’t pay any federal income tax.”
Trump: “That makes me smart.”#TaxDay #TaxDay2018 pic.twitter.com/amdm1mcR16
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) April 17, 2018
His “complex” tax returns excuse doesn’t work much better than the excuse he gave during the campaigns. He has had a full four months to complete his returns and employs accountants and business consultants who could have completed them for him.
‘Trump has repeatedly said that he would release them as soon as the Internal Revenue Service completes an audit, although experts say that audits don’t prevent taxpayers from making public their returns.’
Meanwhile, Trump complains that Amazon owner Jeff Bezos is not paying enough in taxes despite the fact that there is no evidence that the company pays any less than the law requires them to pay. According to Trump, that makes a business owner like him “smart,” although it hasn’t stopped him from lashing out on Twitter against the man who also owns The Washington Post.
Featured image via Getty/SAUL LOEB
