Discussion: Cohen On Trump Blocking Tax Return Release: He Doesn't Want Scrutiny From Experts

It sounds like Cohenā€™s confirming what Josh posted a long time ago about Trump. Trumpā€™s entire operation would never survive even cursory scrutiny of experts and prosecutors. Heā€™s only skated as long as he has because no oneā€™s ever cared enough to dig into Trumpā€™s ā€œbusinesses.ā€

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Cohen said that Trump told him that ā€œwhat he didnā€™t want is to have an entire group of think tanks that are tax experts run through his tax returns and start ripping it into pieces.ā€ He said he feared such scrutiny would result in him being audited and ultimately facing taxable,consequences or penalties, Cohen testified.

Thatā€™s a sort of roundabout way of saying he lied on his tax returns and he doesnā€™t want to be held accountable for it. Iā€™m still holding out for the tax returns showing the world what a billionaire he isnā€™t, and how involved he is with Russia.

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Why does the name ā€œAlexander Butterfieldā€ keep popping into my head? Or ā€œJohn Dean?ā€

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This was a really important interchange, and I want to give credit to AOC, who did a really, really solid follow up, nailing down a lot of things. I did not see everything, but of what I saw, she was one of the better questioners. Not what I was expecting given how some of her interviews have gone. Really solid work.

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I dunnoā€¦Iā€™ve had ā€œCucky McButtercup, the Meltiest Snowflakeā€ noodling around in my dome all day for some reasonā€¦sort of visualizing it at the same time as on the cover of one of those ā€œLittle Mr./Missā€ booksā€¦

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What Trump does on his taxes is;

Claim the FULL VALUE of any and all properties that he merely licenses his NAME to as an asset.
Claim the FULL DEPRECIATION of said properties even though he doesnā€™t OWN them.
Claim the FULL TAX DEDUCTIONS of all said properties, even though he doesnā€™t OWN them.
Claim the NY State Tax Reduction for having under $500k of INCOME at the same time.

His ass will end up in prison if he is ever ACTUALLY AUDITED by the IRS.
I fully suspect that Mueller has all his tax returns and be including them in the RICO indictments he is preparing against the entire Trump Crime Family.

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I agree because tax evasion and cheating is something the deplorables DO understand - even if they say ā€˜hey, he got away with it,ā€™ they have to pay taxes. She was very impressive.

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I just want to point out that the libertarian extremists are still winning.

Instead of debating public policy or tackling issues like climate change and the rise of a new Gilded Age, weā€™re spending an enormous amount of time tracking down the rat they helped into the pantry.

Iā€™m not saying we shouldnā€™t go after Trump. Heā€™s a 4-alarm grease fire, and we need to put him out before the whole place burns down. But every minute thatā€™s not focused on weakening the stranglehold of organized money is another minute they extract more wealth and entrench their power.

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It may be necessary to be patient about the more important issues for a couple of years. Step one is to retake the Senate and the White House. Until then, thereā€™s probably little that can be done to address these things. Exposing the filth of the Rodent in Chief and his enablers is a necessary step to regaining the power to accomplish something on other fronts.

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AOC has been looking good in all the hearings Iā€™ve seen. She is incisive & maintains an air of gravitas.

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Cue the RWNJ outrage machine.

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NY State can do the same, and is more likely to than the IRS is.

We know that Trumpp doesnā€™t follow rules. Not following the rules on taxes puts money straight into his pocket, so we know that heā€™s filed a lot of bogus returns. If thereā€™s enough evidence for tax authorities to rule that old returns are fraudulent, not just erroneous, thereā€™s no statute of limitations on how far back the authorities can go.

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Particularly for a rookie.

IIRC, she was a former bartender? Serving drunks has to be a lot like dealing with GOP Congressmen.

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:laughing:

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Iā€™ve always pictured Trump as the loudmouth know-it-all in the bar who pontificates about everything, and his supporters as the toothless bar flies who all say things like, ā€œThat guy really makes sense.ā€

(Or should that be ā€œbarf lies?ā€)

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Tell me again why Dem leadership has not subpoenaed the returns?

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Regardless of the legalities involved, the sheer optics of subpoenaing your political opponentsā€™ tax returns are just horrendous. Very Nixonian.

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please accept my depression of the 1,000 likes button in your honor

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I hate Trump with a white hot heat for what he has done, but let me play devilā€™s advocate for a moment. We know Trump is a bully but we also know he is ruled by fear. Heā€™s afraid of germs, heā€™s afraid of people of color, and so on. I believe he is terrified to have someone scrutinize him. His whole deal with NDAs and privacy says fear to me. He may be hiding something or he may simply be afraid. Or both. We wonā€™t really know until we look at the records. To be honest, I would not like think tanks and experts looking at MY taxes, even though I tell my accountant to stay well within the lines.

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