Trump’s Tax Returns Leaked

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Image courtesy of 401(K) 2012 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/6757838321

This week, President Trump’s tax returns for the fiscal year of 2005 were leaked by journalist, David Cay Johnston, a Trump biographer. Throughout his presidential campaign in 2016 and even to this day, Democrats and the media have demanded that Donald Trump do as all previous presidents have done and show the public his taxes to prove that there is nothing untoward about his personal earnings. Never in American history has a sitting president’s taxes or even a candidate’s taxes been a source of so much contention.

The news broke Tuesday night on MSNBC when David Cay Johnston sat in on “The Rachel Maddow Show” as a guest to bring the tax returns to light. Maddow asked Johnston how he came across the documents; to which he replied, “Came in the mail over the transom.”

Upon receiving the documents from Johnston, MSNBC reached out to the White House prior to the show for confirmation as to whether or not the tax returns were real. The White House responded with a written statement:

“Before being elected President, Mr. Trump was one of the most successful businessmen in the world with a responsibility to his company, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required. That being said, Mr. Trump paid $38 million dollars even after taking into account large scale depreciation for construction, on an income of more than $150 million dollars, as well as paying tens of millions of dollars in other taxes such as sales and excise taxes and employment taxes and this illegally published return proves just that. Despite this substantial income figure and tax paid, it is totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns. The dishonest media can continue to make this part of their agenda, while the President will focus on his, which includes tax reform that will benefit all Americans.”