Impeachment proceedings against Trump

ramage wrote: "the media is controlling the narrative" How does that explain the different views of the NY Times and NBC news?

There are a couple of explanations. Rosenstein was NEW to the job at the time,(my understanding, correct me if I am wrong) and the timeline was chaotic and crazy (as always, in Trumps Kingdom). Rosenstein was throwing things at the wall,seeing what would stick (as they were brainstorming...frantically). OR his tone was sarcastic and those in the room KNEW he was just venting in frustration....the WORDS
on paper can not convey the intent. Thus the discrepancy in reporting. JMO... I believe the media is attempting to "trip" Trump up ( in this incident of the NYT vs. NBC.)

ScienceChic wrote: This story reportedly took the three journalists 18 months to research.

It's no wonder Trump refuses to release his tax returns. Wonder what we'll find in there?

Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father
The president has long sold himself as a self-made billionaire, but a Times investigation found that he received at least $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s real estate empire, much of it through tax dodges in the 1990s.
By DAVID BARSTOW, SUSANNE CRAIG and RUSS BUETTNER
Oct. 2, 2018

President Trump participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud, that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents, an investigation by The New York Times has found.

But The Times’s investigation, based on a vast trove of confidential tax returns and financial records, reveals that Mr. Trump received the equivalent today of at least $413 million from his father’s real estate empire, starting when he was a toddler and continuing to this day.

Much of this money came to Mr. Trump because he helped his parents dodge taxes. He and his siblings set up a sham corporation to disguise millions of dollars in gifts from their parents, records and interviews show. Records indicate that Mr. Trump helped his father take improper tax deductions worth millions more. He also helped formulate a strategy to undervalue his parents’ real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars on tax returns, sharply reducing the tax bill when those properties were transferred to him and his siblings.

The president’s parents, Fred and Mary Trump, transferred well over $1 billion in wealth to their children, which could have produced a tax bill of at least $550 million under the 55 percent tax rate then imposed on gifts and inheritances.

The Trumps paid a total of $52.2 million, or about 5 percent, tax records show.

The president declined repeated requests over several weeks to comment for this article.

OH MY.......what a surprise.......a trust fund baby who NEVER evolved into a moral adult.

If the tax story is true, and not just bitter Trump haters, the IRS will go after him. The question is, did he "dodge" taxes, or actually do something illegal. We all "dodge" taxes. I don't know of a single person who pays more than the bare minimum they have to pay by utilizing deductions allowed by the IRS. Are they fair across the board, no. But that is what you get when we have this strange ability of our "public servants" we elect to get rich once in congress.

What this really tells us is we need to overhaul the tax code. Trump may or may not have done anything illegal, but the ultra wealthy are able to utilize deductions and other tax rules to avoid paying taxes.

Jared Polis, our likely future governor did the same thing. Ultra wealthy, but used tax rules (they aren't loopholes...they are written intentionally by our elected officials) that benefited him much more than any of us regular joes. Allowed him to keep a lot of his $$ to buy the governorship.

We need tax reform, such as the FAIR tax. fairtax.org/

Then everyone will pay equally. The only thing that differs between a Clinton, Trump, Bush, Obama, Polis is they are rich. What makes them different? They buy a lot of stuff. Buy a lot of stuff, pay more taxes. Period.

RenegadeCJ wrote: If the tax story is true, and not just bitter Trump haters, the IRS will go after him. The question is, did he "dodge" taxes, or actually do something illegal. We all "dodge" taxes. I don't know of a single person who pays more than the bare minimum they have to pay by utilizing deductions allowed by the IRS. Are they fair across the board, no. But that is what you get when we have this strange ability of our "public servants" we elect to get rich once in congress.

What this really tells us is we need to overhaul the tax code. Trump may or may not have done anything illegal, but the ultra wealthy are able to utilize deductions and other tax rules to avoid paying taxes.

Jared Polis, our likely future governor did the same thing. Ultra wealthy, but used tax rules (they aren't loopholes...they are written intentionally by our elected officials) that benefited him much more than any of us regular joes. Allowed him to keep a lot of his $$ to buy the governorship.

We need tax reform, such as the FAIR tax. fairtax.org/

Then everyone will pay equally. The only thing that differs between a Clinton, Trump, Bush, Obama, Polis is they are rich. What makes them different? They buy a lot of stuff. Buy a lot of stuff, pay more taxes. Period.

I saw the interview with one of the journalist on this story......IF I understood correctly, at the time all this occurred the tax laws were pretty nebulous ,the specific actions taken by the family/parents,were just barely on the side of legal and IF you had an excellent tax person.....
well then you were as good as solid. Riding just on the edge of legal is the norm and IF you can push the edge even further go for it......WHICH THEY DID. Yes, tax reform is long overdue.

Flat tax, anyone?

<If the tax story is true, and not just bitter Trump haters, the IRS will go after him. The question is, did he "dodge" taxes, or actually do something illegal.>

Didn't this all happen decades ago?

Blazer Bob wrote: <If the tax story is true, and not just bitter Trump haters, the IRS will go after him. The question is, did he "dodge" taxes, or actually do something illegal.>

Didn't this all happen decades ago?

Yes, it did. HOWEVER it speaks to Trumps TOTAL delusional reality of just how financial fit he REALLY is and just how truly terrrific he has handled his "handsome " lifestlye. (NOT) His ego is limitless,his intelligence is lacking. jmo

The Trump tax story is actually old news. They are trotting it out again but it quickly went away because nothing new was revealed. Of course he is going to hire lawyers and accountants to avoid taxes. Anyone in the 1% does.