FlipBoard
Last weekend, some of Donald Trump’s tax documents surfaced in a New York Times writer’s mailbox. The paper published away and revealed two things: (1) Trump suffered a 1995 loss of close to $1 billion; (2) This would have allowed him to skip out on federal taxes for nearly two decades. In the aftermath, Trump (who previously said he’d be “smart” for not paying taxes) called himself “brilliant” for managing to maneuver so well within the tax code, which he claims he knows better than anyone.
Trump’s ex-accountant feels differently. Jack Mitnick, who previously spoke with The Times and confirmed the released documents’ authenticity, did the talk show tour on Wednesday to set the record straight. Mitnick did Trump’s taxes until 1996, and he was the one to finagle that sweet tax deal after Trump’s staggering loss. He negates the Trump-created myth: “I did all the tax preparation. He never saw the product until it was presented to him for signature.” Mitnick spoke out in response to Trump praising himself after his surrogates went a little nutso in their enthusiasm to defend him. Rudy Giuliani even labelled Trump as a “genius,” which is quite a stretch.
In this CNN interview, Mitnick emphasizes that Trump had “zero” involvement in preparing or otherwise assisting with his taxes. None.
![[avatar]](https://profilecdn-woven.netdna-ssl.com/photo/81898/profile)
Didn’t that go without saying? I don’t think anyone thought Trump figured all of this out on his own.
Next thing they will try to say is he didn’t design all his buildings either. Some god damn architect will try to take credit
It’s pretty amazing what makes the news these days.
@Joe Carroll +1000
Trumpers think he did. THen again they also think he was a gift given directly from lord and savior baby jesus
Well it’s certainly news to me. I thought putting my signature on there was the genius move that made it all possible. I’m still the geniusest genius I know.
He literally said minimizing his taxes makes HIM smart. He also actively promotes himself as a financial genius (instead of just a business genius), claims no one knows “the economy” or the tax code as well as he does and overall tries to give people the impression that he’s incredibly well-versed in all things financial. Sure, no one smart believes him, but the uneducated might actually believe he’s the one who comes up with the strategies. That’s what he’s aiming for. That’s why it’s relevant when someone comes forward and makes it clear that Trump’s role was limited to signing whatever his expensive advisors put in front of him. In short, Trump’s never claimed to know shit about architecture (irrelevant for a President, anyway), but he’s repeatedly claimed to know tax law and to be “brilliant” in fiscal matters (which is very relevant for a President, and thus should be proven/debunked).
Where’s his little hat?