Following the testimony in front of Congress by Michael Cohen, Trump wanted everyone to note that he said he had no knowledge of collusion with Russia. Trump didn’t seem to catch that Cohen implicated him in other crimes, including bank, insurance, and tax fraud.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal talking about Trump's potential financial crimes, "That’s fraud against those insurance companies. It’s bank fraud. It could be fraud against the government. " https://t.co/YCJWqrhnYO pic.twitter.com/7ykCwh0Xqu
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 1, 2019
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) appeared on MSNBC on Friday to discuss the very serious allegations made by Trump’s former attorney and “fixer.” Those allegations included multiple instances of fraud, saying that Trump would inflate the value of his properties to magazines like Forbes to appear more wealthy than he is, then deflate the value on tax and insurance paperwork to avoid expenses.
‘That’s fraud against those insurance companies. It’s bank fraud. It could be fraud against the government. Also, deflating the values for tax purposes, that’s tax fraud. But also I think what strikes me about the Cohen testimony is the kind of Pandora’s box it opened. Not only in terms of witnesses but also potential crimes.’
Cohen says Trump didn't release his taxes because he was afraid it would end up in an audit? Wasn't his excuse for not releasing them in the first place that he was *already* under audit? pic.twitter.com/H9FKDeXfFO
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) February 28, 2019
Tax and bank fraud are two of the charges for which Cohen is about to spend three years in prison. Should Trump’s tax returns, which Democrats in the House are determined to subpoena, become public, the questions around these claims could be answered. There’s a reason Trump is fighting so hard to keep that from happening, and this may be one of them.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questioned Michael Cohen during his House testimony yesterday and laid the groundwork for obtaining Trump’s tax returns. https://t.co/x0F9tXiZNK pic.twitter.com/IWBZQtfj8F
— CNBC (@CNBC) March 1, 2019
The House Ways and Means Committee is preparing to subpoena those tax returns. A spokeswoman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said:
‘Every day the American people and Congress learn more about President Trump’s improprieties, from conflicts of interest to influence peddling, potential tax evasion and violations of the Constitution — all roads leading back to President Trump’s finances.’
"If Trump wrote those business expenses [to reimburse Cohen], that would constitute total fraud," Pascrell said. "That's a fraudulent scheme, and his tax returns would show that. That's why the returns are so important." https://t.co/9lLW1HIjln
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 1, 2019
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
